LONDON — BP outlined plans to rebound from the Gulf of Mexico disaster as a smaller, safer company — selling off almost half its U.S. refinery business — and restored its dividend payment to shareholders as it unveiled strong fourth-quarter profits Tuesday.
But uncertainty over the final bill for the gulf spill and criticism from some analysts that the company shunned a more drastic restructuring tempered the good news.
Chief executive Bob Dudley painted 2011 as a year of “recovery and consolidation” for the company as he listed three priorities: improving safety, restoring trust and finding value growth for shareholders.
As anticipated, BP posted a full-year loss in 2010 — its first in almost 20 years. High crude oil prices at the end of the year lifted fourth-quarter profit by 30 percent to $5.6 billion. But that was not enough to wipe out the effects of the gulf spill, resulting in the full-year loss of $3.7 billion, compared with a profit of $16.6 billion in 2009.
“I am determined that we will emerge from this episode as a company that is safer, stronger, more sustainable, more trusted and also more valuable,” Dudley said in London.
Among its first steps of a return to business, the company announced it would pay a 7 cent per share, or $1.25 billion, dividend to shareholders in the fourth quarter.
