Sawt Falasteen - BP ousts chairman over 'serious' governance concerns

"The board has been surprised and disappointed to learn of governance oversight and conduct issues it deems unacceptable and has taken decisive action," Amanda Blanc, a senior independent director at BP, said in a statement.

The company did not give specific details of the alleged conduct and declined to comment further.

The news sent BP's share price sliding nearly six percent, topping the losers' board in the FTSE 100 index in afternoon trading at the London stock exchange.

Board member Ian Tyler has been appointed interim chairman with immediate effect.

Manifold became chairman in October last year as BP focused on pivoting back to its more profitable oil and gas business, slashing clean energy investments.

"Albert has helped bring a welcome focus and pace to BP's transformation," Blanc said in the statement.

However, he "should no longer serve as chair and director with immediate effect. This follows serious concerns raised to the board", the group added.

According to anonymous sources quoted by the Financial Times, other directors viewed Manifold as too aggressive and believed he exerted excessive control over the company.

- More turmoil -

BP faced a shareholder backlash at its annual meeting last month as investors rejected a resolution that would have reduced its climate reporting requirements.

Some of the investor discontent was directed at Manifold, with just 82 percent of shareholders voting in favour of his election -- below the near-unanimous support typically received by directors.

"He was considered a hands-on and controversial chair," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.

"The fact that Manifold has left so soon raises genuine concerns about HR policies at BP, and the corporate culture," said Brooks, adding that the lack of stability signals "bad news" for shareholders.

His departure is the latest leadership shakeup after company outsider Meg O'Neill became chief executive in April, with a mission of implementing a recovery plan for the group.

BP reported a sharp increase in profits in the first quarter as crude oil prices soared amid the Middle East war.

"The board and leadership team have deep conviction in the strategic direction we have laid out, and the company is moving at pace to deliver it," Tyler said Tuesday.

"BP is building a track record of strong underlying operational performance and a tight focus on financial discipline -- all in the pursuit of growing shareholder value and returns," he said.

- 'Boardroom controversy' -

Manifold had replaced Helge Lund, who departed after a major reset at the British energy giant that saw it shelve carbon-reduction targets to focus on fossil fuel output.

Under Lund, BP chief executive Bob Dudley departed in early 2020, replaced by Bernard Looney, who was sacked over his failure to disclose past relationships with colleagues.

"Unfortunately this is not the first time that BP has been embroiled in boardroom controversy, which could be one of the reasons for the outsize share price fall," Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, told AFP on Tuesday.

"At the operational level, the CEO and board remain in place which should enable the strategy to be pursued, although ironically Manifold had been seen as being a strong contributor to the group's recent turnaround," Hunter said.

"Some uncertainty may remain until the details leading to the departure are known, but in acting swiftly and decisively the board may have removed any doubts as to whether the shortcomings are more widely spread across the group," he added.

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