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News & Tips: BP, AstraZeneca, Ocado & more

Equities have kicked on this morning
February 5, 2019

Shares in London have built upon their recent recovery with another rise again in morning trading, boosted by positive news from blue chips. Click here for The Trader Nicole Elliott's latest views on the markets. 

IC TIP UPDATES:

Fourth quarter (and full-year) results for BP (BP.) tell two stories. The first - consensus-beating profitability, a lower tax rate and a particularly resilient downstream business - will win headlines. And with a reserves replacement ratio of 100 per cent for the year (or 209 per cent including acquisitions such as BHP's US shale portfolio), the oil major can claim to be ahead of rival Royal Dutch Shell on one traditionally-watched metric. However, this expansion has come with rising debt, while cash flow was again insufficient to cover the cost of capital expenditure, dividends and the somewhat confusing share buyback programme. The shares are up 4 per cent today, though we remain sellers.

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