Murray Auchincloss reports fall in annual profits to $8.9bn last year from almost $14bn in 2023

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The chief executive of BP has defended its tumbling profits as the board braces for a campaign by an activist investor to overhaul the troubled oil company.

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.