Bernard Looney’s first de-Russified results should be a cause for celebration. While the BP boss had to swallow a $24 billion hit from writing the value of his 20% Rosneft stake to zero, he also made $6.2 billion of underlying first-quarter earnings from sky-high oil and gas prices. Besides beating analyst expectations by 39%, that let the $100 billion UK oil major cut its net debt and reduce the hit to its balance sheet from quitting Russia.
There’s such a thing as doing too well, though. Politicians hunting for windfalls to tax in Spain and Italy are struggling for lucrative targets— many electricity groups are not reaping bumper profits after selling their power forward when prices were lower. BP’s first-quarter earnings, however, dwarf 2021’s $2.6 billion. Looney’s promise of $23 billion of extra UK investment this decade looks like a response to finance minister Rishi Sunak’s public intimations of a windfall ta . But with a further $2.5 billion of share buybacks announced on Tuesday, BP may yet get thwacked. (By George Hay)
To know more:https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/bps-windfall-tax-shield-still-leaves-it-exposed-2022-05-03/
Kommentare