BP cuts dividend after record loss in Q2

BP cut its dividend today for the first time in a decade after reporting a record US$6.7 bil (RM20.1 bil) loss in the second quarter as the coronavirus crisis hammered energy demand.

The net loss, which was in line with analysts’ expectations, was largely a result of BP’s decision to wipe US$6.5 bil off the value of oil and gas exploration assets after it revised sharply lower its oil and gas price forecasts.

London-based BP’s second-quarter underlying replacement cost loss, the company’s definition of net income, reached US$6.7 bil, roughly in line with forecasts of US$6.8 bil in a company-provided survey of analysts.

That compared with profits of US$2.8 bil a year earlier and US$791 mil in the first quarter of 2020.

CEO Bernard Looney, who took the helm in February, avoided a dividend cut in the first quarter of the year despite worsening market conditions. – Aug 4, 2020, Reuters

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