BP (LON:BP) share price: what to expect from its Q1 results

When is BP’s results date?

BP will publish its Q1 results on April 30.

BP results preview: what does the City expect?

BP ended last year on a high, with the oil and gas major more than doubling its full-year earnings to $12.7 billion. This year, the company is expecting another strong 12 months of trading, with it forecasting full-year 2019 underlying production to exceed 2018 output after significant investment in several major projects.

The oil and gas company admitted that its actual reported outcome will depend on the exact timing of project start-ups, acquisition and divestment activities, as well as OPEC quotas throughout the year. BP has said that it expects Q1 production to be on par with Q4 18 levels with divestments of assets in the North Sea and Alaska and turnaround and maintenance activities mainly in the high margin Gulf of Mexico region, offset by major project start-ups and the benefit of the BHP assets acquired by BPX Energy.

BP completed its $10.5 billion acquisition of BHP in the final quarter of 2018, with the deal estimated to add an additional 190,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day and more than 4.6 billion barrels of discovered resources. The deal is also estimated to generate more than $350 million in annual pre-tax synergies and increase BP’s upstream pre-tax cash flow by up to $15 billion by 2021.

‘By every measure, this is a transformational deal for our Lower 48 business,’ BP upstream CEO Bernard Looney said. ‘It is an important step in our strategy of growing value in upstream and a world-class addition to BP’s global portfolio.’

Driving growth and advancing the energy transition

BP continues to grow its business with the company setting up 19 new projects since 2016, six of which were brought online in 2018. Investors will be keen for an update on its growth strategy for this year, with the business likely to offer further insight in how it plans to grow its green energy footprint.

Its solar development company Lightsource BP has doubled its global footprint over the course of last year, with a presence now in 10 countries. During the fourth quarter, Lightsource BP was awarded power purchase agreements (PPAs) in Australia and in the US. In the UK, it announced an agreement to power AB InBev’s manufacturing plants through an innovative 100MW PPA.

Meanwhile, BP made a series of investments in electric vehicle technology and infrastructure during the year that significantly progress its advanced mobility agenda. This included the purchase of Chargemaster, operator of the UK’s largest vehicle charging network, as well as venturing investment into battery company StoreDot. Investors will be keeping a close eye on BP’s green investments in its upcoming trading update.