Investors advised to look beyond the disaster and ‘buy' BP

As BP reports Q4 results Helal Miah, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, explains what they mean for investors.

"BP's Q4 results were slightly ahead of consensus. A drop in figures compared to 2011 numbers was expected, reflecting the large number of divestments made during the year. The continuing effect of this means that production in 2013 is still expected to be lower than 2012, despite four major upstream projects due to be productive by the end of the year.

"Investors will be pleased to hear new projects are set to increase production, operating cash flow and earnings momentum in the medium to long term.

"We believe BP is slowly managing the Gulf of Mexico incident and continue to recommend investors look beyond the disaster and ‘buy' BP. The company is restructuring its portfolio to become a more focused oil and gas producer and offers good potential for long term growth, whilst paying a competitive dividend."