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BP posts massive £9.5 billion profits as prices soar and uk cost-of-living crisis worsens
https://www.whatjobs.com/news/business-news/bp-posts-massive-9-5-billion-profits-as-prices-soar-and-uk-cost-of-living-crisis-worsens
By Hugh Fort in Business News, posted February 9, 2022
BP has posted its highest profit in eight years as prices soar and the UK's cost of living crisis deepens.
The Mirror reports the group recorded a £9.5 billion underlying replacement cost profit for 2021 from losses of £4.2 billion the previous year.
The energy giant saw profits of £3.01 billion in the final three months of 2021 alone - a massive rise from £85.1 million a year earlier.
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The company also announced more money for its shareholders, with another £1.1 billion of share buybacks before its first-quarter 2022 results and a dividend payout of 5.46 cents (3.37p) a share for the fourth quarter.
The Covid-19 pandemic was a disaster for the company as it went £13.4 billion into the red, which was its biggest ever annual loss.
However, the price of oil and gas is soaring as world economies reopened after the early stages of the pandemic.
But BP's massive profits are leaving a bad taste in the mouth in the UK as families and businesses are struggling due to soaring inflation.
There are growing calls for a windfall tax on energy companies.
Labour MPs say bills will rise by more than 50 percent in April, while the companies report massive profits.
In announcing its results, BP also revealed plans to spend more on low-carbon and renewable energy.
Chief executive Bernard Looney said: "2021 shows BP doing what we said we would - performing while transforming.
"We've strengthened the balance sheet and grown returns, we're delivering distributions to shareholders with 4.15 billion US dollars of buybacks announced and the dividend increased, and we're investing for the future."
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