BP Posts Drop In Q3 Profit

BP PLC BP reported a drop in its third-quarter profit and raised its dividend to $0.10 per share ($0.600 per ADS). The company's quarterly net profit declined to $1.29 billion, versus a year-ago profit of $3.5 billion. BP's replacement-cost profit declined to $2.39 billion from $3.18 billion. Underlying replacement cost profit dropped 18% to $3.037 billion, from $3.692 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $2.93 billion. Its sales and other revenue declined 2.8% to $93.9 billion, versus estimates of $93.4 billion. Underlying oil and gas production, excluding Russia, increased 4.1% in the quarter. Reported production, including BP's share of Rosneft's production, fell to 3,149 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, from 3,172mboe/d, in the year-ago period. At 30 September 2014, net debt was $22.4 billion, versus $20.1 billion a year earlier. During the quarter, the company repurchased 209 million ordinary shares at a cost of $1.6 billion, including fees and stamp duty. BP shares fell 0.21% to $41.86 in after-hours trading.