Member Info for Harmonica

Meoryou,

Nice report, but please understand that paying down debts does NOT keep profits down. The transaction of using cash to pay off debts is a balance sheet transaction not in the profit and loss account. Please note that such payments are NOT revenue expenses, which would reduce profits, but capital repayments. In fact, if debts are paid off, presumably there will be less interest paid going forward BOOSTING profits!

Meoryou,

Nice report, but please understand that paying down debts does NOT keep profits down. The transaction of using cash to pay off debts is a balance sheet transaction in the balance sheet. Please note that such payments are NOT revenue experts, which would reduce profits, but capital repayments. In fact, if debts are paid off, presumably there will be less interest paid going forward BOOSTING profits!

Clued,

In the big scheme of things, allowing bankers to be paid how their employers want has zero impact on the national economy. Likewise, the cost of getting rid of the 45% tax rate, which we should never have had, is a mere £2bn, which on the national scale hardly registers! It only affects 600,000 taxpayers, the sort that we want to remain in the country, not incentivised to move to other tax jurisdictions.

Any reversal would be economically pointless and political suicide, showing indecision and uncertainty.

As I type, the price of Brent crude oil futures has fallen sharply around 4.5%. It cannot be due to extra supply in the market, so guessing that it is fear in the markets that demand will fall off due to the industrialised world slipping into recession. I should not be at all surprised if a lot of the drop is reversed on Monday.

Jezzoo,

Being dividend payout day should not cause the BP share price to fall. It is not like going ex dividend! In fact, as many re-invest their dividends, you might expect an increase. With sterling weaker today, this should also help the share price. I note that the price of crude oil is down and that must explain it. I do not know if something in the Financial Statement that may have caused such a big fall?

I must be slow! Whilst I realise that the share buybacks of themselves support the present share price, I had not realised that the loss of so much cash from the bank must have the opposite effect, as BP is losing a very valuable asset. Thankfully, cash is being generated heavily currently!

Putin would definitely not have accepted any such invitation! Have you seen his fear of being near others?

Clued,

With the concentration on news of the Queen's passing, maybe I missed that. Where did you see or hear about a failed assassination attempt on President Putin? Link?

Jakers,

Franking is an excellent way to pay for postage, by the way!

Neil74,

How would things go back to normal? If the war is ongoing, I cannot see that happening. Are you suggesting that the Russians will have quit the Ukraine or that Putin will be ousted?

By the way, 'it's' means 'it is'.

Bumble,

Sure China is the biggest customer of Russian oil and gas! After all, the West is weaning itself off Russian oil and gas. Whilst there might well be economic sanctions on China, does it want to provoke the West into rougher sanctions measures?

Jakers,

If the consequences of fracking are uncertain, then we need more data. The way to get that is through testing and experimentation by setting up fracking test sites. Having a limit of 0.5 on the Richter scale is too low in all likelihood.

Bumble68,

I see why you state that about China, but, I suspect that a nation that survives on foreign trade will not want to provoke its biggest customers in the West from making it a pariah state facing economic sanctions.

Jezzoo,

Knowing that BP is a willing seller, that any buyer would have issues too with extracting dividends and/or with secondary sanctions issues, offers would likely be less than half of its pre-war value, if that.

It might be better for BP simply to sit tight and hope for a change of regime to allow the company to extract its rolled up dividends at some future point. Hopefully, the regime will not have confiscated the money!

Jezzoo,

Why would it put £1 on the BP share price? It would depend on the sale price? If BP sold its Rosneft equity for £1 or even £1m, it would have no material effect.

Lokloo, Was it President Trump who said that the EU was making a mistake relying so much on Russia for its natural gas supplies?

KRSS,

Why should BP pay over to the UK Government any more than the 65% or so of Corporation Tax than it already does? You seem to assume that the state will spend it better than BP! The problem you ignore is that half of all UK Government income is spent on administration before it reaches, say, the poor and the deserving.

Also, that money that you suggest should be needlessly given away, would then not be available to BP to invest in new fields and into renewables.

Lokiloo,

What billions of pounds are being given to energy companies? Not a free gift!

Why punish BP, Shell etc with a windfall tax for Governments' shortsighted energy policies like shutting down coal burning power stations and not commissioning new nuclear power stations and renwable sources in better time?

Wait until tomorrow, Thursday, for the announcement.

I suspect that the Government or power suppliers will borrow heavily to smoith out costs, with that money to be paid back, eventually.

Retirment,

A weak Pound Sterling means that the BP dividend is HIGHER than otherwise since the dividend is declared in US Dollars.