Oil and Gas Press

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2007 Results

Today there will be a webcast presentation hosted by Tony Hayward, Group Chief Executive, and Byron Grote, Chief Financial Officer. The presentation will discuss BP’s fourth quarter and full year results, and will be followed by a question and answer session.

BP’s fourth-quarter replacement cost profit was $2,972 million, compared with $3,895 million a year ago, a decrease of 24%. For the full year, replacement cost profit was $17,287 million compared with $22,253 million, down 22%.
The fourth-quarter result included a net non-operating charge of $1,030 million, including pre-tax charges of $603 million for the impairment of US Convenience Retail and $338 million for restructuring, integration and rationalization costs associated with BP’s Forward Agenda. This compares with a net non-operating charge of $152 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. For the full year, the net non-operating charge was $272 million compared with a net non-operating gain of $1,062 million in 2006.
Net cash provided by operating activities for the quarter and year was $4.3 billion and $24.7 billion respectively compared with $5.0 billion and $28.2 billion a year ago.
The effective tax rate on replacement cost profit from continuing operations for the fourth quarter was 45% compared with 25% a year ago. For the year, the rate was 37% compared with 35% a year ago. The increased rate in the fourth quarter reflects the effect of inventory holding gains and losses, which are eliminated in the replacement cost profit, while the tax charge remains unadjusted and includes the tax effect on inventory holding gains and losses. If this effect is excluded, the rate would have been 38% in the fourth quarter compared to 31% a year ago.
Net debt at the end of the quarter was $27.5 billion. The ratio of net debt to net debt plus equity was 23% compared with 20% a year ago.
Capital expenditure, excluding acquisitions and asset exchanges, was $6.6 billion for the quarter and for the year was $19.2 billion. Total capital expenditure and acquisitions was $6.6 billion for the quarter and $20.6 billion for the year. The year included $1.1 billion in respect of the acquisition of Chevron’s Netherlands manufacturing company. Disposal proceeds were $0.4 billion for the quarter and were $4.3 billion for the year.
The quarterly dividend, to be paid in March, is 13.525 cents per share ($0.8115 per ADS) compared with 10.325 cents per share a year ago. For the year, the dividend showed an increase of 16%. The dividend increase marks a shift in the balance between dividends and share buybacks as a means of returning value to shareholders. In sterling terms, the quarterly dividend is 6.813 pence per share, compared with 5.258 pence per share a year ago; for the year the increase was 7%. During the quarter, the company repurchased 121 million of its own shares for cancellation at a cost of $1.5 billion. For the year, share repurchases were 663 million at a cost of $7.5 billion.
Information on fair value accounting effects in relation to Refining and Marketing and Gas, Power and Renewables is set out on page 10.
*Profit attributable to BP shareholders.
Fair Value Accounting
Effects Information on fair value accounting effects may be found on page 10 of the full version of our quarterly results. A table of these effects for 2005 - 2007 can be found by clicking the link below.
 Fair Value Accounting Effects Historic Data (pdf, 9KB)
 
Forward-Looking Statements Cautionary Statement:
This presentation and the associated slides and discussion contain forward-looking statements, particularly those regarding operational and financial momentum, expected return to capacity of refineries, production and expected start up of projects, corporate restructuring, impact of restructuring and expected restructuring costs, performance, gearing, effective tax rate, oil prices, capital expenditure, divestment proceeds, depletion, depreciation and amortization, group costs and share buybacks and dividends. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will or may occur in the future. Actual results may differ from those expressed in such statements, depending on a variety of factors, including the timing of bringing new fields on stream; future levels of industry product supply; demand and pricing; operational problems; general economic conditions; political stability and economic growth in relevant areas of the world; changes in laws and governmental regulations; exchange rate fluctuations; development and use of new technology; the success or otherwise of partnering, changes in public expectations and other changes in business conditions; the actions of competitors; natural disasters and adverse weather conditions; wars and acts of terrorism or sabotage; and other factors discussed elsewhere in this presentation.

Reconciliations to GAAP:
This presentation also contains financial information which is not presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). A quantitative reconciliation of this information to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP can be found on our website at www.bp.com
Cautionary Note to US Investors:
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits oil and gas companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only proved reserves that a company has demonstrated by actual production or formation tests to be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions. We use certain terms in this presentation, such as “resources” and “non-proved reserves”, that the SEC’s guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosures in our Form 20-F, SEC File No. 001-06262, available from us at 1 St James’s Square, London SW1Y 4PD. You can also obtain this form from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.

Full financial details on: http://www.bp.com/extendedgenericarticle.do?categoryId=2012968&contentId=7040647

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