Dudley’s leaving hits BP shares

Shares in BP fell more than 4% yesterday after reports emerged saying chief executive Bob Dudley was preparing to step down.

Mr Dudley, who turned 64 last month, took over as CEO at BP in 2010 in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico.

His tenure has been focused on restoring the company to the position it held before the accident, which caused the biggest oil spill in US history and killed 11 people, despite billions of pounds of penalties and compensation piling up.

BP’s stock slid more than 20p to £4.92, while the wider Footsie plunged heavily on Brexit fears and weak construction figures.

London’s top flight closed 237.78 points lower at 7,122.54, suffering its heaviest session slump since 2016 as a plethora of negative factors – including news that the US could place £6.1 billion of tariffs on EU goods – weighed heavily on sentiment.

Investors in Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment were the only FTSE 100 shareholders to make major gains, after its shares surged on its agreement to merge with Canadian rival the Stars Group.

Flutter will own 54.6% of the merged firm, which will have its headquarters in Dublin and be listed on the London Stock Exchange as well as on Euronext Dublin. Shares in Flutter leapt £5.30 to £81.64.

The only other firm in London’s top index to close in the black was Tesco, whose shares rose 0.5p to £2.40.

Sterling improved against the dollar and euro slightly, but currency traders were left largely unimpressed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plans to secure a Brexit deal.

The pound was 0.2% up versus the US dollar at 1.231 and ahead by 0.04% against the euro at 1.124.