Oil giant BP reported a stronger-than-expected net profit for the second quarter and raised its divided despite earlier warnings of lower refining margins. The oil major posted underlying replacement profit – a sign of the firm’s profit were it not for unexpected or unusual expenses – of $2.8 (£2.2bn), beating analyst expectations of $2.6bn (£2bn). As a result the energy firm announced an increase to its dividend of 10 per cent and hiked its share buyback programme to the fourth quarter. The results come despite what…
