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I picked up some more shares on the bell for 603p.. All Good IMO.
The DIV return, coal sale, commodity prices. Will the SP now march to 700 plus ?

Even my wildest hopes of $0.40 have been exceeded !!
Brilliant. Very glad I piled in earlier this week.

Net profit totalled US$1,212 million, compared with US$513 million in H1 2020.
The cash cost of steel and raw materials in Russia was the following:
The cash cost of slabs1 increased to US$283/t from US$210/t in H1 2020
The cash cost of washed coking coal1 increased to US$36/t from US$34/t in H1 2020
The cash cost of iron ore products1 increased to US$40/t from US$38/t in H1 2020
An interim dividend for 2021 of US$802.3 million (US$0.55 per share) has been declared, reflecting the Board’s confidence in the Group’s financial position and outlook.

Great day ! That's the divi gap made back up in just a few days if this holds. I'll reinvest the div when it lands.

Anyone trade the gap successfully ? I've had success a few times in various shares selling before ex-div day but got burned with POLY when their 4% div was more than made up on ex-div day itself.

Hi Gareth.
It is... I rarely ever buy back shares I've previously sold at a lower price so cashing in some BP and increasing here is a risk, but I figured the divi return is higher as a start if all stays as is.
We'll see...

Hi huudi. It's a good point. I'm not happy with my investment here despite taking the offer. Where is the promotion / attraction / uplift for this ? One of the hottest topics yet here we are flatlining at 118p. There is no point being invested if the value goes down the same or more than the dividend. I'll hold some more and see but if the current price is not proved the floor after upcoming divs or inflation bites elsewhere then I'll go cash.

Just increased my holding in Evraz on anticipation of the results, the chart looks supported at these levels, and IMO there is a good possibility of an increased August dividend due to the commodity prices. The decrease in output is surely more than made up for by high prices.
We'll see. If the Divi remains the same it is still a great yield.
Cheers and GL

Well said MarkGo, the MC/SP like other companies that had the same Pandemic Dip, alternatively these companies are being expected to recover to previous prices and their CEO's are doing just that. Looney has basically aired he's happy with BP losing 40% of its value in 2 years and is intending to keep that valuation low. The strategy is not going to get us back to proper SP levels above 450 anytime soon, whereas BP's peers show clear intentions to do this, Looney is giving our cash away to sellers/traders/shorters instead of acquisitions, JV's, dividends, debt repayment which. A short triumphant 10% rise back to reasonable levels for the current yield is not going to appease a large proportion of shareholders.

"What's not to like?".

I know your name is happyinvestor, but seriously how can anyone be happy with such a policy that will put BP firmly last in the race with all it's rivals to provide shareholder value after the pandemic dip.

A 4% annual divi increase is tragic, basically declaring that it will take 16 years for the dividend to get back to it's proper level of 10 cents plus , meanwhile wasting billions after billions on buybacks which do precisely nothing for the shareholders, the business, paying off debt or acquisitions. It is going to cost Looney his job.
There will be an outflux of shareholders that see this policy and compare it to others, like BP's immediate peer RDS and will prefer their money elsewhere.
There is no chance that BP will reach it's pandemic spike up of 342p any time soon.
Cheers and GL.
My strategy will be to transfer holdings to RDS when and as their yields match.

At least BP have left the backdoor open to change their mind on this dividend policy.
"The board will take into account factors including the cumulative level of and outlook for surplus cash flow, the cash balance point and the maintenance of a strong investment grade credit rating in setting the dividend per ordinary share and the buyback each quarter"
Two companies on the FTSE - one that will get back to it's pre-pandemic share price and dividend level quicker than the other. It's a no brainer as to which one I will have a bigger holding. A shame as I have been invested heavily in BP for over a decade.

And a dividend of 7.6 pence per share which is great but with buyback commencing, IMO don't expect this SP to rise anytime soon. Allowing Tom Dick Or Harry who want to sell their shares instead of to the shareholders in dividends is not the best way to go IMO.
"On or about 4 August 2021, we expect to commence the second £50 million tranche of the £100 million share buyback programme announced in March 2021"

Financially all is good but I'm pretty mute on this. I remain stubborn in my view that this going to backfire badly on Looney once the market sees the other companies reach their pre-pandemic share prices, especially RDS, whilst BP languishes in a buyback CEO bonus happy. The debt reduction is good but without dividend increases and favouring buybacks BP is going to languish in the current trading range.

Reported profit for the quarter was $3.1 billion, compared with $4.7 billion for the first quarter 2021.

• Underlying replacement cost profit* was $2.8 billion, compared with $2.6 billion for the previous quarter. This result was driven by higher oil prices and margins offset by a lower result in gas marketing and trading.

• Operating cash flow* of $5.4 billion includes $1.2 billion pre-tax of Gulf of Mexico oil spill payments within a working capital* build of $0.5 billion (after adjusting for inventory holding gains and fair value accounting effects).

• Net debt* fell to $32.7 billion at the end of the second quarter.

A resilient dividend is bp's first priority within its disciplined financial frame.

• Reflecting the underlying performance of the business, an improving outlook for the environment, confidence in our balance sheet and commencement of the share buyback programme, the board has announced an increase in the second quarter dividend of 4% to 5.46 cents per ordinary share. This increase is accommodated within a 2021-5 average cash balance point* of around $40 per barrel Brent, $11 per barrel RMM and $3 per mmBtu Henry Hub (all 2020 real).

• bp generated surplus cash flow* of $0.7 billion in the second quarter and $2.4 billion in the first half after having reached its net debt target of $35 billion. Taking into account surplus cash flow* generated in the first half of the year, bp intends to execute a share buyback of $1.4 billion prior to announcing its third quarter 2021 results. For 2021, and subject to maintaining a strong investment grade credit rating, the board remains committed to using 60% of surplus cash flow for share buybacks and plans to allocate the remaining 40% to continue strengthening the balance sheet.

Hi Happy.
Also consider that much of that difference is down to a change in the currency rate between the US$ and GBP.
Since both companies account in US$ and trade in US$ then arguably looking at the SP in US$ is a better way of charting their progress.
In US$ the June 2020 high was almost reached.
8th June 2020 Highest SP for the BP ADR = $28.56
14th June 2021 Highest SP for the BP ADR = $28.48
$28.56 today would be an equivalent 342p.

In US$ RDS has already surpassed it's June 2020 highs. RDS is not only traded in London but also hugely in Europe and the Dutch exchange, so the markets may have priced in more pandemic doom and/or the 'dollar effect' might simply be less.
Adding to the discussion
Cheers and GL

Well said Proffpuff. He wouldn't be the only CEO on the FTSE that doesn't see the bigger picture and makes decisions seemingly based on increasing his personal bonus rather than the value and growth of the company. Tescos and GSK both spring to mind but these are for discussion elsewhere, (especially Tesco which had a golden opportunity in 2020 to increase it's worth and ended up a proper dog).
I'm sure there are many examples across the indexes but these are the largest cappers in the FTSE100, and raises the question on the process that allowed them to get there.
Anyway... Next week.
Not worried. Results will be superb. Oil price is excellent.
If Looney doesn't raise the div to increase the Market Cap instead of buybacks his days will be numbered as surely BP should be entering this transition to greener energy from a position of strength and high value, not weakness.
I'm sure I'm not the only one with a close eye on inflation (wrt to going cash), the historic reason for low share prices and higher yields. Not been seen for decades but If inflation bites it will have a spectacular effect on the US markets with their low yields, and would drag the UK indexes down with it.
All IMO
Cheers and good weekends all.

Similar RDS to BP. More than halved my RDSB holding and increased BP today.
In the last 3 months RDSB has gone up 10% and BP down 3%.
Half this BB are sick of my dogged stance on the BP divi/Buybacks but I'm sticking to my guns that BP will follow suit with RDS and the SP will be jolted upwards to a new trading level.
The worst case is that BP put the blinkers on and sticks to the 5.25c DIV and we stay in our current trading range (280-320). That would still be slightly higher DIV return than RDS has just increased to.
Cheers all and GL

https://tinyurl.com/um8khred

Yes, Back in to reinvest the div with intention to hold at least to above the recently tested highs.
Great results.
(Patting myself on the back with this trade as the shares I had bought with my Seplat sale had all gone up 5-10% whilst Seplat had gone down 5%.. )

Charlie156. Acting like a proper charlie. So like a child.
Straight onto the filter list.

Hi Happy
We must agree to disagree.
https://renewablesnow.com/news/lightsource-bp-buys-845-mw-solar-portfolio-in-spain-731308/
I was happy to see this Spanish deal and I would happily see more investment like Iberia Solar, whether it's stakes in private or listed companies.
I mention SSE specifically as they have ambitions to be the worlds expert on windfarms so would be perfect to partner or takeover to develop the offshore windfarm rights that BP spent so much on.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bp-splashes-out-with-huge-bet-on-wind-farms-in-the-irish-sea-jx508ln6c#:~:text=BP%20will%20pay%20more%20than,the%20Treasury%20and%20the%20Queen.

Hi meshtrader
"As for investing in other commodity firms, strategically speaking, this isn't an effective tactic."
IMO For BP this has been a tower of strength. Their shares in Rosneft have been an important part of BP's income for years and I doubt many would feel it has been a "Ineffective".
I would be more than happy to see BP take stakes in energy companies like Bluefield of the Windfarm arm of SSE for example, than hand it over to any old tom dick or harry via buybacks. The only buybacks I would vote for are those to counter bonus issues, but then I never agree to the BOD's issue of them in the first place. As a side note, I see this as a trend in AGM election results.

Hi Hassa
"US shares but would need to sell to enjoy any income from them"
This is part of the reason there are many index doomsayers when inflation bites, Buffet amongst them.

Hi Happy.
Disagree. Looney said that with regards a lower oil price, and it is now much higher and times have changed. If Looney wants to keep the company as a proposition with any reputation with investors he must increase the dividend, rather than see a favour to RDS.
Buybacks are no good IMO. Just look the amount spent over the years , 10s of billions given away for the sake of issuing shares and bonuses.
The point is, BP investors will not enjoy seeing RDS leap ahead in Market Cap and share price and it will be entirely Looneys fault by favouring buyback instead of a proper shareholder return.

All good stuff, as expected.