Proactive Investors - BP PLC (LON:BP) announced a second-quarter profit of $2.76 billion, surpassing market expectations. The energy giant also increased its dividend to 8c, up from 7.27p, which was in line with City predictions.
The main driver for the outperformance appears to have been the scaling of green initiatives enacted under former boss Bernard Looney.
The back-to-basics approach of CEO Murray Auchincloss has seen the business focus back on its core oil and gas activities.
In Tuesday's update, BP said it will continue its share buyback programme at a rate of $1.75 billion over the next three months, aiming to repurchase a total of $7 billion in shares this year.
The company's underlying replacement cost profit, which it uses to define net income, reached $2.76 billion for the three months ending in June.
This figure exceeded the $2.54 billion forecasted by analysts surveyed by the company. This quarter's profit compares to $2.7 billion in the previous quarter and $2.6 billion a year ago.