Elliott presses BP to boost free cash flow by 40% via spending reductions, FT reports
The Financial Times reported that Elliott Management, an activist investor, has urged BP a 40% increase in its free cash flow through spending cuts. Elliott wants BP to focus on achieving a $20 billion annual free cash flow target by 2027 instead of growing its oil business, according to a report citing sources familiar with the issue. BP has worked to increase its share price, which has lagged behind rivals Shell and Exxon in recent years. According to the report, the hedge fund suggests that BP sell its solar and offshore-wind power businesses. It asserts that it can reduce its spending on oil and gas operations because of the sufficient future oil reserves.
BP shareholders punish Helge Lind with low support
BP's Murray Auchincloss, CEO and Helge Lund, Chair were reelected on Thursday. However, the dramatically reduced level of support from shareholders for Lund may mean that his departure earlier than expected is possible. BP's Board was up for reelection at the annual general meeting. The group faced activist shareholder Elliott Management, as well as criticism from climate-focused shareholders who had demanded a vote against Lund. BP has worked to increase its share price, whose stock had been underperforming that of rivals Shell and Exxon, for years. This pressure increased when Elliott Management acquired a nearly 5 percent stake in recent weeks.
BP's leadership is facing shareholder votes amid Elliott campaign and climate ire
BP's Board is up for reelection on Thursday at its annual meeting. The group will be facing activist shareholder Elliott Management, as well as climate-focused investors that have asked for a vote to remove Chairman Helge Lind. BP's stock, which has underperformed rivals Shell and Exxon in recent months, is under pressure to increase its share price. This comes after U.S. hedge funds Elliott Management have built up a stake of nearly 5%. CEO Murray Auchincloss, and Chairman Lund, supported the 2020 plan of former chief Bernard Looney to cut BP's output of oil and gas by 40% in this decade and heavily invest in renewables.
BP warns about lower production in the first quarter and weak gas sales
Energy group BP said that it expects the first-quarter production of oil and gas to be lower than in the previous quarter. Lower gas output in Egypt and Trinidad and asset sales will offset gains in oil. The trading update provides an early look at BP's performance in its first quarter, as the company faces investor pressure on capital discipline, share repurchases and energy transition. This scrutiny has increased since activist investor Elliott Management purchased a stake. BP expects its earnings in the oil production and operation segment to remain roughly flat compared to the previous quarter. This is due to the price lags experienced in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the UAE.
Helge Lound, BP chairman, to resign amid Elliott campaign
BP Chairman Helge Lund plans to step down in "likely 2026", and the process of selecting his successor has begun, BP announced on Friday. This comes amid a campaign from activist hedge fund Elliott to bring about more change within the company. Lund had backed BP’s 2020 strategy, which included an ambition to reduce its hydrocarbon production by 40% in this decade. This plan saw BP’s shares perform below their peers, such as Shell and Exxon. After taking gradual steps to move away from this strategy, devised by the then-CEO Bernard Looney who left BP 2023 when it was revealed that he hadn't disclosed relationships with his colleagues…
Tokyo Gas expects its net profit to double in FY26
Tokyo Gas, Japan's largest city gas provider, said that it aims to double its net profits in 2026 and has plans to expand into the United States. The plan was released in a mid-term management report on Wednesday. The company expects its net profit to increase to 131 billion Japanese yen ($871million) for the fiscal year 2025-26, which starts on April 1. This is up from 72 billion yen in the current year that ended this March. The company expects to increase its dividend by 10 yen, or 80 yen a share, in the current fiscal. The company also said it plans to buy back shares up to 120 billion Japanese yen during the first half fiscal year 2026.
Sources say that Elliott met with BP investors in order to discuss further changes.
Two shareholders have confirmed that Elliott Management, an activist investor in BP, has met with several of the company's largest shareholders to form a consensus on more changes. These could include cost reductions and a possible leadership reshuffle. BP's stock has performed worse than rivals Shell, Exxon and Shell in the past five years. Investors have blamed this in part on 2020 plan of the company to focus on its renewable business and cut oil and gas production. After watering down this plan, BP accelerated the pivot back to hydrocarbons with a new strategy last month. Elliott and the two shareholders who attended separate meetings said they both wanted deeper changes.
Follow This, a BP activist investor, urges voting against Chair Lund on energy transition
BP activist investor Follow This intends to ask shareholders at the 17th April shareholder meeting to vote against Helge Lund being reappointed, claiming he had a duty to give investors a voice on the scrapping of energy transition targets. In a February strategy overhaul, CEO Murray Auchincloss announced that BP would cut spending on renewables while increasing investment in oil and natural gas. This was a revamp of the 2020 strategy, which had predicted a 40% reduction in its oil and natural gas output by 2030. The main criticism of Follow This is that the shareholders haven't been given a chance to vote directly on the new strategic direction.
Financial Times reports that Elliott has a $5 billion stake in BP.
The Financial Times reported that Elliott Management, an activist investor, has revealed a nearly 5% stake in BP. This makes it the third largest shareholder of the oil company, citing sources close to the issue. The FT reported that Elliott was trying to get the British oil company, British Petroleum to reduce spending on renewables as well as make large divestments. BP shares dropped 1.3% to 462.5p after the FT article. A BP spokesperson refused to comment. Elliott Management didn't immediately respond to our request for a comment. Murray Auchincloss, the CEO of BP, is on a quest to revive BP’s performance and increase profits.
BP promises fundamental reset as Q4 profit hit four-year low
BP announced a quarterly profit of $1.1 billion on Tuesday. This was lower than expected, and the lowest since 2004. The company also promised to reset its strategic direction after it became known that Elliott Management, an investor, had acquired a stake. BP has experienced a decline of earnings for the entire year 2024. This follows two years of record earnings, when energy prices stabilized and global oil demand weakened. But BP is underperforming its peers, and CEO Murray Auchincloss has been put under pressure to bring about change. The share price of 467.90 pence was up 0.6%, or about flat.
BP shares are at their highest level since August following Elliott's stake increase
In early trading on Monday, shares of oil giant BP rose 7%, reaching their highest level since August, following reports that activist investor Elliott Management acquired a stake in the firm, citing a reliable source. By 823 GMT the shares had risen 7.3% to 464.75pence, their largest daily gain since Febuary 2023. Shell shares dropped by nearly 4% and ExxonMobil rose 8%. Murray Auchincloss, BP's CEO, has tried to restore investor faith in the company strategy since his predecessor Bernard Looney resigned in September 2023 due to failing to disclose employee relationships. Bloomberg News, which reported on the matter earlier Saturday, said that Elliott, a U.S.
Tokyo Gas president: Asset sales will boost capital efficiency by Tokyo Gas
Tokyo Gas wants to increase capital efficiency through the sale of underperforming assets including real estate. This was announced by its president on Thursday following disclosures that activist investor Elliott Management had invested 5% in Tokyo Gas. Elliott took a 5.03% share in Tokyo Gas earlier this month. The company is trying to get Japan's largest city gas provider to increase shareholder value. Tokyo Gas President Shinichi Sasayama declined to comment at a press conference for a business update on the details of the company’s dialogue with Elliott.
Financial Times - Nov. 12
These are the most popular stories from the Financial Times. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports. Companies will admit that the UK made a legal mistake in issuing oil and gas licenses. Shell, Ithaca, and Equinor, a Norwegian oil company, are all set to admit that the UK government committed a mistake by granting them licenses for two new major offshore developments. This is the beginning of an important case for future fossil-fuel projects. Ken Griffin's Citadel hedge fund has hired Nabeel Bhanji…
Seadrill CEO: Seadrill is looking to acquire assets and engage in M&A.
Seadrill, an offshore drilling contractor, is looking to merge with other companies or buy more assets. John Fredriksen, a Norwegian billionaire, lost control of his company, which was once the largest drilling company in the world by market capital, to creditors after two debt restructurings. Seadrill, a New York-listed company that is now leaner and smaller, wants to purchase distressed assets or players who have "distressed" balance sheets. CEO Simon Johnson said this at an investor conference held in Norway. He said, "We won't do anything crazy. We have proven our discipline." The amount of cash on the balance sheet that the company has…
Japan's Seven & i to Buy Marathon Petroleum's Speedway Gas Stations for $21B
The Japanese owner of 7-Eleven convenience stores has agreed to buy Marathon Petroleum Corp's Speedway gas stations for $21 billion, brushing aside coronavirus concerns to return to the table five months after initially balking at the deal.The acquisition is one of the biggest this year, suggesting the pandemic, while forcing many companies to focus on protecting balance sheets instead of expansion, has not killed off global dealmaking altogether.The move will help Seven & i Holdings Co Ltd shift focus beyond Japan, where its stores and supermarkets face a shrinking population…
New CEO for Marathon After Hedge Fund Campaign
Marathon Petroleum Corp chief Gary Heminger will leave the company next year after almost a decade in charge, launching sweeping changes demanded by investors at the biggest U.S. refiner including the spinoff of its Speedway retail arm.The departure is a victory for activists Elliott Management, DE Shaw and others who had sought the changes following the 2018 acquisition of rival Andeavor.That $23 billion deal gave Marathon a coast-to-coast refining network but delivered results that disappointed and its shares fell to a two-year low this year.Marathon said Chief Executive Officer Heminger would retire next year when his current term ends.
BP Pays $10.5 bln for BHP Shale Assets
BP Plc has agreed to buy U.S. shale oil and gas assets from global miner BHP Billiton for $10.5 billion, expanding the British oil major's footprint in some of the nation's most productive oil basins in its biggest deal in nearly 20 years.The acquisition of about 500,000 producing acres marks a turning point for BP since the Deepwater Horizon rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, for which the company is still paying off more than $65 billion in penalties and clean-up costs."This is a transformational acquisition for our (onshore U.S.) business…
Sempra Energy to Shed U.S. Storage, Renewable Assets
U.S. utility Sempra Energy said on Thursday it plans to sell some of its natural gas storage and renewable energy assets and expects to record a charge between $1.47 billion and $1.55 billion during the second quarter. Earlier this month, activist investors Elliott Management and Bluescape Resources Co, who have a combined stake of 4.9 percent in Sempra, pushed for a board shakeup and strategic review at the company. The activist investors presented the company with a plan to sell its international business lines and split into two companies through a tax-free spinoff - one focused on utilities and the other on natural gas infrastructure.
Hess Warns Focus on Returns Now Will Hurt US Shale Long-term
Investor pressure on oil producers to focus more attention on shareholder returns and less on output will drive down vital industry investment in the long term, a leading U.S. shale executive said on Thursday.Shareholders have been pushing for more dividends and buybacks from U.S. shale companies, whose heavy investment in production has helped the United States overtake Saudi Arabia to become the world's second biggest oil producer after Russia."Investor sentiment in the last year has really, markedly changed. I'd say it's gone from, 'drill, baby, drill…
Elliott Management Supports Hess Buyback
Elliott Management pulled back from efforts to call for substantial changes at oil company Hess Corp on Thursday on the eve of the deadline to nominate directors for the company's board. Elliott said it supported Hess's $1 billion share buyback program announced earlier Thursday and the company's planned operating review. Elliott, the activist hedge fund led by billionaire Paul Singer, previously called for changes at Hess Corp in a heated 2013 proxy fight. At that time Hess conceded to an agreement that added three Elliott appointees to the board. Reporting By Jessica Resnick-Ault
