BP Amoco’s 3rd-Quarter Earnings Jump 72%

BP Amoco posted a 72% jump in profit from operations to $1.96 billion, or 9 cents a share, for the third quarter because of increasing crude oil prices and cost cuts. The results were at the high end of analyst expectations, which ranged from $1.65 billion to $2 billion. Earnings were boosted mainly by cost savings in exploration and production resulting from the $62-billion purchase of Amoco Corp. and oil prices that have doubled this year. Higher prices, which also helped increase profits at BP Amoco’s rivals in the U.S. and Europe, should lift the company’s performance during the final three months of 1999, Chief Executive John Browne said. “We expect the outlook for markets for the rest of the year to remain broadly positive,” Browne said. The company’s $33.6-billion purchase of Atlantic Richfield Co. will boost profits next year, he said. Delays in U.S. antitrust enforcers granting approval for Exxon Corp.’s purchase of Mobil Corp. are jeopardizing BP Amoco’s aim to finish the Arco buyout this year, said BP Amoco Deputy Chief Executive Rodney Chase. The Federal Trade Commission “is preoccupied with the bigger transaction that Exxon and Mobil have been working on,” Chase said. BP Amoco’s American depositary receipts rose $3.44 to close at $55.75 on the NYSE.