MALCOLM GRAHAM-WOOD | VSA CAPITAL
Despite the apparently positive mood I would have waited until after the settlement of the case before I increased the pay-out, and as I have said before BP were paying out too much in dividends before Macondo... They are being more optimistic about life than more solid industry peers.
STUART JOYNER | INVESTEC
We continue to believe that BP will settle sooner rather than later given the US presidential election and we see a 50 per cent chance this will occur in the next few weeks. We continue to believe the $42bn of provisioning is broadly right, i.e gross negligence is not a likely outcome in our view. Buy rating.
RICHARD HUNTER | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN
In all, BP’s status as a recovery play is progressing well. The company has marked a further milestone in its route back to relative normality, whilst the dividend outlook is promising. The general market consensus of the shares as a buy should be consolidated after these numbers.
