• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Elevenses
  • Business
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Property
  • JOBS
  • All
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Sport
    • Tech/Auto
    • Lifestyle
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Set For Life
      • Thunderball
      • EuroMillions
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News Finance

BP slashes dividend after suffering record losses

Alongside its results, the company also unveiled details of its strategy to slash carbon emissions, revealing that it aims to cut oil and gas production by 40 per cent and increase low-carbon tenfold to £5 billion by 2030.

Henry Goodwin by Henry Goodwin
2020-08-04 11:43
in Finance
Credit;PA

Credit;PA

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Oil giant BP has made a record quarterly loss, slashing its dividend payout for the first time since the Deepwater Horizon disaster as the company’s profits are squeezed by the plummeting price of oil.

Investors will now receive 5.25 US cents per share – the equivalent of 4p – compared with the 10.25 cents they had been receiving.

The shift comes after BP recorded a £5.1 billion underlying replacement cost loss in the second quarter of the year – a massive hit compared with last year, when it made a £2.1 billion cost profit.

The average price of oil was around 57 per cent lower at 29.50 US dollars for a barrel of Brent crude in the quarter compared with the same three months in 2019.

The falling price was driven by a mix of geopolitics as Saudi Arabia and Russia started a price war at the start of the year, and the coronavirus pandemic, which pushed down demand for oil.

It was in part this decrease that two months ago sparked an announcement that BP would write off around £9.9 billion to £13.4 billion after tax. BP has already announced it will cut 10,000 jobs, with as many as 2,000 set to be lost in the UK.

Cutting carbon emissions

Alongside its results, the company also unveiled details of its strategy to slash carbon emissions, revealing that it aims to cut oil and gas production by 40 per cent and increase low-carbon tenfold to £5 billion by 2030.

The pledge was welcomed by environmentalists. Mel Evans, senior climate campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said: “BP has woken up to the immediate need to cut carbon emissions this decade. 

“Slashing oil and gas production and investing in renewable energy is what Shell and the rest of the oil industry needs to do for the world to stand a chance of meeting our global climate targets.

RelatedPosts

Britain sitting on £3bn ‘hidden treasure trove’ of unspent cash

Young Brits favour modern investments and YOLOing over traditional saving goals

NatWest launch ‘Couch to Cash’ £5k challenge as research shows young Brits have under £500 in savings

‘Move your money’: Experts issue warning over major UK bank

“BP must go further, and needs to account for or ditch its share in Russian oil company, Rosneft. But this is a necessary and encouraging start.”

‘Very challenging quarter’

BP chief executive Bernard Looney said: “These headline results have been driven by another very challenging quarter, but also by the deliberate steps we have taken as we continue to reimagine energy and reinvent BP.

“In particular, our reset of long-term price assumptions and the related impairment and exploration write-off charges had a major impact.

“Beneath these, however, our performance remained resilient, with good cash flow and – most importantly – safe and reliable operations.”

While the dividend will remain at 5.25 US cents until the board decides to increase it, Mr Looney and his fellow directors promised to return money to investors by buying back their shares with at least 60% of BP’s surplus cash.

Related: BP fined £7,000 over crude oil discharge in North Sea

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Lottery Results
    • Lotto
    • Set For Life
    • Thunderball
    • EuroMillions
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

← Surge in applications for EU citizenship quite normal for a country “hit by a major economic or political crisis” ← Iain Duncan Smith up in arms over Withdrawal Agreement “fine print”
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Lottery Results
    • Lotto
    • Set For Life
    • Thunderball
    • EuroMillions
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

-->