BP一季度利润下滑 债务攀升

据路透社4月28日报道，因当前石油需求遭受重创，并表示其对未来前景异常不确定，英国石油公司(BP)第一季度利润暴跌三分之二，债务大幅增加。

总部位于伦敦的BP表示，预计该公司第二季度炼油利润率将大幅下降，届时全球出行限制将达到顶峰，从而抑制汽油、柴油和航空燃油的消费。BP称:“很难预测目前的供需失衡何时将得到解决，当前形势的最终影响也很难预测。”

由于油价暴跌和需求下滑，欧佩克、俄罗斯和其他产油国达成协议，将全球原油供应量削减约10%，油气生产面临“重大不确定性”。

BP公布的基础重置成本利润为8亿美元，仍高于分析师在该公司提供的调查中预估的7.1亿美元。该公司去年报告盈利了24亿美元。

与许多同行一样，面对第一季度油价下跌65%的局面，BP也大幅削减了支出，将2020年的预算削减了25%，至120亿美元左右，并减少了美国页岩业务的产量。

今年第一季度，BP的债务增至514亿美元，其负债与资本比率升至36%，远高于将其控制在30%以下的目标。

BP在第一季度末持有320亿美元的流动资金，此前该公司曾通过举债建立现金储备来应对收入的下降。

洪伟立 摘译自 路透社

原文如下：

BP's profit tumbles, debt climbs as coronavirus crisis hammers oil demand

BP’s (BP.L) first quarter profits tumbled by two-thirds as the coronavirus crisis hammered oil demand and the energy major’s debt rose sharply as it warned of exceptional uncertainty ahead.

London-based BP said it expected significantly lower refining margins in the second quarter when global restrictions on movement to halt the spread of the virus reached their peak, throttling consumption of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

“It is difficult to predict when current supply and demand imbalances will be resolved and what the ultimate impact of COVID-19 will be,” BP said in a statement.

It said oil and gas production faced “significant uncertainties” linked to plunging oil prices and tumbling demand, as well as due to a deal between OPEC, Russia and other producers to cut global supplies of crude by about 10%.

BP reported an underlying replacement cost profit, its definition of net income, of $800 million, still beating the $710 million forecast by analysts in a company-provided poll. The company reported $2.4 billion profit a year earlier.

BP, like its peers, responded to a 65% drop in oil prices in the first quarter by sharply reducing spending. BP slashed its 2020 budget by 25% to around $12 billion and reduced output at its U.S. shale operations.

BP’s debt rose to $51.4 billion in the first quarter and its debt-to-capital ratio, or gearing, rose to 36%, significantly higher than its target of keeping it below 30%.

BP held $32 billion in liquidity at the end of the first quarter after the company, like its competitors, raised debt to build up cash reserves to cope with the drop in revenue.