bp: debt target reached, share buybacks ahead
(CercleFinance.com) - bp said on Tuesday that it plans to resume share buybacks after meeting its debt target in the first quarter.
The British energy giant said it generated 4.7 billion dollars in cash from asset disposals in the first three months of the year, a performance that enabled it to reduce its net debt to 35 billion dollars, as it had hoped.
As a result, bp says it plans to return at least 60% of its excess cash flow to shareholders in the form of share buybacks.
While the level of buybacks (set to resume in Q2) will depend on net divestments and free cash flow generation, it estimates that with crude oil at 60 dollars a barrel, the company will buy back between 2 billion and 2.5 billion dollars of shares a year, or between 2.5% and 3% of its current market capitalisation, in addition to a dividend yield of 5.5%, analysts said this morning.
These announcements were warmy welcomed on the London Stock Exchange, with the bp share up over 2% in early trading on Tuesday morning.
Copyright (c) 2021 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.
The British energy giant said it generated 4.7 billion dollars in cash from asset disposals in the first three months of the year, a performance that enabled it to reduce its net debt to 35 billion dollars, as it had hoped.
As a result, bp says it plans to return at least 60% of its excess cash flow to shareholders in the form of share buybacks.
While the level of buybacks (set to resume in Q2) will depend on net divestments and free cash flow generation, it estimates that with crude oil at 60 dollars a barrel, the company will buy back between 2 billion and 2.5 billion dollars of shares a year, or between 2.5% and 3% of its current market capitalisation, in addition to a dividend yield of 5.5%, analysts said this morning.
These announcements were warmy welcomed on the London Stock Exchange, with the bp share up over 2% in early trading on Tuesday morning.
Copyright (c) 2021 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.