Anadarko Slashes Dividend by 81%
10 February 2016 - 9:20AM
Dow Jones News
Anadarko Petroleum Corp., hit hard by sharply lower energy
prices, slashed its quarterly dividend by 81% to five cents a
share.
The move will save the company about $450 million a year,
Anadarko Chief Executive Al Walker said.
The company's stock, down more than half over the past 12
months, fell nearly 6% Tuesday to $37.65.
While executives at some major oil companies such as Exxon Mobil
Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP PLC have defended their
payouts, vowing to take on new debt, others are cutting
dividends.
Last week, ConocoPhillips chopped its dividend from 74 cents to
25 cents, saying the 66% reduction was necessary to protect the
company's financial health as oil prices hovered near 12-year lows.
The Houston company booked $2.7 billion in charges in the fourth
quarter that pushed it to a $3.45 billion loss.
In December, Kinder Morgan Inc. slashed its dividend by 75% to
12.5 cents a share, an unprecedented move for a company that had
held dividends as sacrosanct.
Anadarko, one of the largest independent oil and gas producers
in the U.S., reported a wider fourth-quarter loss as revenue
dropped 35%.
And last week, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services changed
its outlook on Anadarko's ratings to negative, indicating a
possible downgrade.
Anadarko's first reduced dividend will be made on March 23 to
stockholders of record at the close of business on March 9.
The Woodlands, Texas, company had raised its dividend to 27
cents, the level in place before Tuesday's announcement comes into
effect, in 2014, just before oil prices began their downward
spiral.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 09, 2016 17:05 ET (22:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2024 to Oct 2024
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)
Historical Stock Chart
From Oct 2023 to Oct 2024