BP taps debt market to raise 400 mln pounds in convertibles
LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) - BP intends to raise 400 million pounds ($583 million) by issuing cash-settled convertible bonds, it said on Thursday.
BP said it intended to use the proceeds for "general corporate purposes" and that the move was part of its regular debt issuance process.
"This is hardly a surprise and probably a move to shore up the balance sheet ahead of the potential market volatility caused by the Brexit referendum," said analysts at Cenkos Natural Resources.
Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in BP were down 1.5 percent at 359 pence at 0725 GMT, when the FTSE 100 index was 1.3 percent.
Last month the company reported an 80 percent fall in first-quarter profits as weak oil prices hit revenue. ($1 = 0.6859 pounds) (Reporting by Karolin Schaps; Editing by Greg Mahlich)