BP BP Plc

By Sarah Kent 

LONDON-- BP PLC said Tuesday it swung to a profit in the first quarter, the latest big oil company to report a sharp improvement in financial performance after a years-long slump in crude prices.

London-based BP said its replacement cost profit--a number analogous to the net income that U.S. oil companies report--was $1.4 billion in the first quarter, compared with a loss of $485 million in the same period a year earlier.

The world's biggest oil companies have reported some of their most successful quarters in more than a year, leaving investors hopeful they may be on the path to recovery. The sector has been struggling to come to grips with a sharp drop in oil prices since the summer of 2014.

Last week, Exxon Mobil Corp. reported its best quarter since 2015. Chevron Corp. posted a profit of $2.7 billion, after reporting a loss for 2016 and France's Total SA saw its profits surge 77% in the first three months of the year.

Write to Sarah Kent at sarah.kent@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 02, 2017 02:46 ET (06:46 GMT)

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