Although it is called the “earnings season," not every company had a good quarter. So is the case of British Petroleum – one of the world's "supermajor" oil and gas companies.
During the past quarter, BP lost $16.8 billion, exceeding the $11.6 billion expected. The loss was caused by the previous write-down of its assets value. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.8 billion.
The Q2 underlying replacement cost figures came in at $6.7 billion loss, compared with last year’s quarterly profit of $2.8 billion.
Given the current global situation and the fluctuations in the price of oil, BP announced that it halved the shareholders' dividends to $5.25 per share from a previous $10.5/share. The dividends will be kept at the new level until its balance sheet deleverages and can maintain a strong investment-grade credit rating.
Moreover, the company announced that it would transition to "an integrated energy company," It expects to be emissions-free by 2050, as it plans to invest in hydrogen and carbon capture, renewable and storage technologies.
After it announced its new strategy, BP share price gained almost 7%. This year, the stock price fell by 40%, while UK100 lost 20%.
See how the price of oil has affected major companies in this sector on CAPEX.com!
Sources: edition.cnn.com, marketwatch.com, finance.yahoo.com