BP logos are seen at a BP petrol and diesel filling station southeast of London on June 15, 2020, following the announcement that the oil giant will take a hit of up to $ 17.5 billion (11.4 billion euros and 15.3 billion euros), due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic.
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Oil giant BP on Tuesday cut its dividend in half after reporting a $ 16.8 billion loss for the second quarter.
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Its underlying replacement cost loss was $ 6.7 billion, compared to profit of $ 2.8 billion in the year-ago quarter.
BP set a new distribution policy after cutting its dividend to 5.25 cents per share. BP said it will keep the dividend at that level, and then return at least 60% of surplus cash to shareholders through share buybacks, once its balance sheet has been deleveraged and subject to maintaining a strong investment grade credit rating.
BP also announced a new green strategy, saying it won’t explore in any new countries as it said there will be a 10-fold increase in low carbon investment by 2030. It said oil and gas production is expected to reduce by at least one million barrels of oil equivalent a day, or 40%, from 2019 levels, which BP said it will accomplish via “active portfolio management.”
BP shares rose 3% in early London trade. The stock has dropped 42% this year, compared to the 20% drop for the broader FTSE 100 UKX,
