Peter Hitchens, Analyst, Panmure Gordon
0 Comments | CEO Wire, Jul 14, 2010
(This is not a legal transcript. Bloomberg LP cannot guarantee its accuracy.)
PETER HITCHENS, ANALYST AT PANMURE GORDON, TALKS ABOUT BP SHARES ON BLOOMBERG
JULY 14, 2010
SPEAKERS:
PETER HITCHENS, ANALYST, PANMURE GORDON
MARYAM NEMAZEE, REPORTER, BLOOMBERG NEWS
4:14
MARYAM NEMAZEE, REPORTER, BLOOMBERG NEWS: Thanks very much. Well, my next guest says buying BP shares is the best thing to do right now. He’s Peter Hitchens, oil and gas analyst at Panmure Gordon here in the UK. Thank you so much for coming in to speak to us. So, you have a buy recommendation on BP’s stock at the moment. When exactly did that happen?
PETER HITCHENS, ANALYST, PANMURE GORDON: It happened on the way down, probably a little too early. I was hoping the top kill operation might work. But clearly I think the market overreacted. There were concerns about BP going into bankruptcy, become pretty with its balance sheet being so strong. I didn’t think that was likely to happen. I think the market reaction is just too extreme.
NEMAZEE: So tell me more about why BPs stock is so attractive to you right now?
HITCHENS: I think once we’ve got this all behind us, they are going to resume the dividend. You’re looking at a yield of around about 9 percent at moment. It’s a significant premium to the other majors. Price to cash flow, it’s looking very cheap as well.
NEMAZEE: We’ve seen substantial gains in BPs share price. It’s risen by about 30 percent so far this month. It climbed by a further 5 percent on Tuesday. Tell me about what is driving that rally?
HITCHENS: It’s a sense of relief. You know, I think people are starting to realize the worst is behind them. That the spill can actually be controlled. We’re getting close to a stage where the cap can be put on, temporarily stop the oil spill expanding. Also the relief wells are a few weeks away. And once you can kill the well off permanently, than BP’s got an easy job of actually cleaning up the spill.
NEMAZEE: There’s no guarantee that that is going to happen, is there? Even BP has said that sealing the cap system has never actually – that the sealing cap system they’re using at the moment has never been used in this kind of depth, and in the current conditions that we’re seeing at the moment. So there’s no guarantee they’re going to be able to contain the leak anytime soon, right?
HITCHENS: I think that’s true. You know, the containment cap is still unknown. But I think the relief wells there drilling, it’s a major way that oil companies actually use to kill off wells permanently. And I think that’s the tried and trusted, tested operation. And I think that BP should be able to succeed with that.
NEMAZEE: On the U.S. law, if the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is deemed a negligent act, BP will have to pay thousands of dollars – what, something like $4,000 per barrel of oil leaked? Some would argue that the company’s financial position is perhaps far from certain at this point.
HITCHENS: I think if you start getting up to the, the punitive damages, this could take years and years to actually sort out. You look at Exxon, with Exxon Valdez. The accident occurred in ’89. They were fined $5 billion. It’s still going through the courts at the moment, 21 years later
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