LONDON (Reuters) - BP on Tuesday confirmed that chief executive Tony Hayward will quit and said it would take a charge as a result of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill amounting to $32.2 billion.
Following are reactions to the news:
DOUGIE YOUNGSON, ARBUTHNOT
"It's no great surprise that Hayward has gone but what's encouraging is that he is staying within the business. I think it's quite shrewd them putting him in Russia given Bob Dudley's horrible relationship with TNK-BP <:BP.LO:>
"I expected them to take a 20 billion charge this quarter but I guess what they're trying to do is get most of the bad news up front and out of the way. We should see a better second half.
"Asset sales were two to three times bigger than we thought but it goes to show BP's going to be a substantially smaller company in the future."
PETER HITCHENS, PANMURE GORDON
"It's basically a kitchen sink job and we've got the way forward.
"They've taken all the charges at once and we're seeing the first way forward -- how they're going to deal with the balance sheet -- which is the key thing ... I think it's the board trying to wipe the slate clean."
(Reporting by Paul Hoskins and Rhys Jones)
