Oil giant in profits warning after hurricanes

BP today warned that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita may knock more than £400m (€589m) off profits in the third quarter of the year.

The oil giant, which announced first-half profits of £6bn (€8.8bn) in July – or £1.4m (€2m) an hour – said trading conditions for the three months to the end of September were “significantly impacted” by the hurricanes and their aftermath.