27 July 2010 / by Lois Avery
BP shares have risen today despite news that the company recorded a loss $17 billion between April and June this year.
The record loss is as a result of the giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which happened when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in April.
The cleanup operation, for which BP says it has set aside £20.8 billion, is blamed for the missing millions
But despite the bad news BP’s share price has lifted another 5 per cent today since halving in value, hitting a 14 year low, following the April disaster.
The news follows the announcement that Chief Executive Tony Hayward has signed a multi million pound exit deal as he prepares to leave his role at the end of this year.
Speaking to Sky News BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said: “The BP board is deeply saddened to lose a CEO whose success over some three years in driving the performance of the company was so widely and deservedly admired.
“I think it became clear that you needed in this case a new face, a new man to lead this and of course America is our biggest market so that is also important, so I think it became difficult for him to take on this task.”
Although investors have been snapping up BP shares thanks to their weakened price the headlines have been hitting shareholders the hardest with BP taking the decision not to make dividend payments for up to another year.
© Fair Investment Company Ltd