BP profits fell short of market expectations

London-listed oil major BP Plc reported first quarter profits below market expectations, with its profitability marker coming in at $2.72 billion versus a forecasted $2.87 billion.

It compares to $4.96 billion for the same quarter last year.

BP blamed weaker oil prices at the start of the year for the ‘miss’, and it also pointed to lower output due to an outage at a refinery in Indiana.

The oil company said it would now seek to make $2 billion of cost cuts.

BP still managed to generate some $5 billion of ‘surplus’ cash flow.

Shareholders, meanwhile, will continue to be supported by BP’s continuing share buy-back program which will see another $1.75 billion spent purchasing the oiler’s stock up until the end of July.

In London, BP shares were down slightly on Tuesday.