Murray Auchincloss reported a sharp slump in BP’s annual profits to $8.9bn (£7.9bn) last year from almost $14bn in 2023, just days after it emerged that the activist hedge fund Elliott Investment Management has taken aim at the oil major by building a stake in the company.
BP chief defends profits plunge as board braces for investor turmoil Murray Auchincloss reports fall in annual profits to $8.9bn last year from almost $14bn in 2023.
The New York-based investor is expected to use its grip on the company to demand sweeping changes to BP which could include ousting the BP chair Helge Lund and a boardroom cull, or a break-up of the 120-year-old company.
He set out plans last month to cut thousands of jobs from BP’s global workforce, amounting to 5% of its staff, and is expected to unveil a new strategy at BP’s investor day later this month.
Auchincloss used BP’s annual financial results to argue that BP had “laid the foundations for growth” by “reshaping” its energy portfolio in 2024, and would now “fundamentally reset our strategy and drive further improvements in performance”.
