BP. Bp Plc

By Jaime Llinares Taboada

BP PLC said Tuesday that it swung to a profit in the fourth quarter of 2020 as oil prices continued to recover.

The British oil major made a net profit of $1.36 billion in the three months to Dec. 31, compared with a net loss of $450 million in the third quarter.

Its underlying replacement cost profit increased to $115 million from $86 million quarter-on-quarter, but was below the company-compiled market consensus of $370 million, based on 26 brokers' estimates. The metric is similar to the net profit figure that U.S. oil companies use but strips out one-off items.

BP declared a quarterly dividend of 5.25 cents a share, bringing the full-year payment to 31.50 cents, down from 41.00 cents in 2019.

The company said that oil prices have risen since the end of October and demand is expected to recover in 2021.

Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at jaime.llinares@wsj.com; @JaimeLlinaresT

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 02, 2021 02:25 ET (07:25 GMT)

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