Britannia Radio

This article makes the idiot editors of the gutter press notably the 
Express ("BP must cut 10p off petrol" ) and the Mail (highlighting 
Brown's demand for price cuts) and  leftish papers like the Guardian 
look like idiots, especially on a day when the FT lead story is 
"World will struggle to meet oil demand" as reserves fall.

BP boss Tony Hayward defended the company's profits, saying it was 
paying the country back in taxes -bucket loads of them   !

Rejoice at a British success story and be glad that someone is 
helping  future pensions.

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TELEGRAPH   29.10.08
Never mind petrol prices, look what BP's pumping into pension funds
Everyone should be feeling a little better off this morning. We've 
all had to get used to headlines about billions being wiped off 
shares, but yesterday more than £17bn was wiped on.

By Damian Reece

Granted today could bring yet another lurch down in equity markets. 
London has fallen a lot more than £17bn over the past year, but 
yesterday reminded us that the UK, so firmly plugged into the global 
economy, has plenty of recovery potential.

Standard Chartered, the UK bank that operates primarily in the Far 
East, delivered good news, Aviva, the UK insurer, was reassuring and 
BP crowned the day with stunning results.

I've recently mentioned the likes of GlaxoSmithKline and BHP Billiton 
as the sort of cash rich, balance sheet strong world-beaters that we 
should look to for recovery, and BP confirmed its membership of the 
elite yesterday. For long periods over the past couple of years that 
was far from certain as the company, and tragically in certain cases 
its workers, were hit by one disaster after another. It revealed 
itself as a hollowed-out shell without the right people in the right 
places. Under new management the company is coming good on its 
promise to reform and improve, which is crucial to all of us.

I know there are gripes about petrol prices but they ring hollow, 
especially as prices are now falling as fast as cheaper oil is 
pumped, refined and then distributed. If all our oil came from 
foreign companies in whose success we struggled to share, then the 
moans about motoring costs would get some sympathy.

But frankly I'm more interested in the fact that BP now accounts for 
more than £1 in every £10 of dividend income paid to pension funds by 
FTSE 100 companies than the vagaries of pump prices.

Given the sudden, often morbid, fascination being shown by previously 
disinterested citizens in matters of business, there are a few 
important truths that need to be learned if business illiteracy is to 
disappear, providing one positive side effect of this crisis.

A BP in decline means falling dividends and falling pensions. A BP 
expanding means this year it'll pay us dividends worth 29.4p a share 
compared to 21p last year - that's 40pc growth. For the third quarter 
alone it will pay 8.7p a share compared to 5.3p last year - 64pc 
growth (helped by dollar strength and sterling weakness). Total 
dividends this year from BP will be about £5.4bn - £900m more than 
last year.

A BP in decline means Alistair Darling, desperate for the money, 
would have to borrow more and force us into even deeper public 
penury. A BP expanding means he'll get a bank-sized bail-out all of 
his own this year worth £6.5bn in BP taxes, making the company the 
Treasury's single biggest benefactor.

Oil prices are falling, implying BP's fortunes may decline. Its 
response? According to Tony Hayward, chief executive: "BP is very 
aware that in the current volatile climate dividends and the strength 
of balance sheets are a matter of concern to investors, including 
pension funds. Our aim remains unchanged - to grow that dividend 
through time in line with our view of future sustainable performance. 
We are steadily and methodically meeting our promises."

Of course it's the norm to expect our business leaders to deliver on 
their promises. Shame it is the exception for our political leaders.