British Companies sitting in the heat
BP, BA, Prudential are three names synonymous with Britain and all three are going through strong turbulance. Prudential may have lowered the angst by backing out of their deal but they’ve still got to pay some large bills and decide what their future strategy is. BA is in a tussle with the unions trying to bring some realism into the business. BP has an un-controlled oil leak that is making all the wrong headlines yet might be fixed at any time.
Quite often these periods of bad news create quite a storm at the time but within weeks of it being resolved things seem to carry on as normal as far as the public is concerned. Of the three BA stand to gain the most by winning their battle although their pension deficit seems like it will always be a weight round the companies neck. BP can only keep its head down and hope that no major US cases are brought against it, but it seems like some upheaval in its US business is inevitable. Prudential has several options with changes to the board and breaking up being two mentioned in the press.
Of the three BP should be protected in some way by the government in a similar way that the French protect their strategic assets. BA and Prudential are renowned British names but not strategic.