The oil major’s net zero plans have made it a sector leader but have yet to win over investors while fossil fuels are booming

Grand corporate strategies are launched in weighty declarations by chief executives who fancy themselves as visionaries. That was how Bernard Looney, the then chief executive of BP, did it back in February 2020 when he said the company would get serious about cutting greenhouse gas emissions and investing in renewables. “The direction is set. We are heading to net zero. There is no turning back,” Looney told his City audience.

By contrast, the watering down of ambition tends to happen in increments. Thus, when Looney last year scrapped BP’s aim to reduce hydrocarbon output by 40% by 2030, versus 2019’s level, in favour of a 25% cut, he claimed the change was a case of “leaning in” to the same strategy, just in the new circumstance of a world that was worrying more about energy security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The offer document for proposed £3.6bn takeover of Royal Mail parent company couldn’t be more vague

Surprise, surprise: the proposed £3.6bn takeover of Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distribution Services (IDS), by a Daniel Křetínský-led bidding consortium will generate a fee bonanza for investment bankers, lawyers, debt-arrangers and assorted hangers-on. The grand total is £146m before VAT, with £89.1m falling on the acquirer and £56.9m on IDS, according to the formal offer document.

It’s a hell of a sum, and the most infuriating element is the £36m that IDS has allocated for “financial and corporate broking advice”. Why? Because that’s the portion that is supposed to reflect the depth, quality and seriousness of the IDS board’s consideration of the fairness of 370p-a-share terms. For such an advisory bill, shareholders might expect maximum financial detail on why the directors rolled over. Instead, in his formal letter to shareholders in the offer document, IDS chair Keith Williams merely served up a cut-and-paste version of his previous sketchy explanation for surrender.