BP cuts dividend after record loss in second quarter

LONDON (Reuters) – BP cut its dividend on Tuesday for the first time in a decade after reporting a record $6.7 billion 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 $6.5 billion 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 $6.7 billion, roughly in line with forecasts of $6.8 billion in a company-provided survey of analysts.

That compared with profits of $2.8 billion a year earlier and $791 million 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.

(Reporting by Ron Bousso; editing by Barbara Lewis)