BP is now a big producer of an unexpected commodity — coffee.
BP
BP,
BP,
saw a boost from its convenience stores, which sell, of course, gasoline, but also coffee and all sorts of odds and ends. BP has previously said it sells 150 million cups of coffee per year.
What it calls convenience gross margin — a profit measure defined in 117 words in a glossary provided alongside quarterly results — rose 9% to $1.66 billion last year.
“Its convenience-store business is a behemoth that should not be underestimated,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
BP has 21,100 retail sites, including 2,850 of what it calls strategic convenience sites.
One aid to its business comes from electric-vehicle charging. BP said that, in the U.K., charging customers are spending more in its retail shops than fuel customers.
The other oil majors also reported better times from their fuel stations, though their numbers weren’t as neatly broken out. Shell
SHEL,
for example, reported higher unit margins from mobility, which operates its retail network, and Exxon Mobil
XOM,
also identified stronger marketing margins.
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