The value of BP’s stake in Rosneft is “close to zero,” BP board member Sir John Sawers said at an event Thursday held by The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council and CFO Network. The company plans to report the charges in May as part of its first-quarter earnings. “Depending what that fair value is judged to be, it will be part of $14 billion that is written off,” the spokesman said. Under International Financial Reporting Standards, BP can no longer use equity accounting for its stake as it doesn’t meet the criteria for having “significant influence” over Rosneft two BP directors resigned from Rosneft’s board on Sunday.īP will assess the fair value of the stake at the end of the first quarter and write down the difference between that amount and the roughly $14 billion value on its books as of Dec. “They’re looking at significant losses,” he said.īP, for instance, plans to take significant noncash charges to reflect foreign-exchange losses it has accumulated since 2013-the year it acquired the 20% Rosneft stake-and the revaluation of its stake as a financial asset instead of as an equity interest on the books, a spokesman said. Impairments from these divestitures, some of them multibillion-dollar holdings, will likely constitute some of the biggest write-downs of the year, saidĬhief executive at New Constructs LLC, an investment-research firm. Write-downs usually mean that an asset has lost some of its value, while write-offs indicate a complete loss of value.

In Russia, foreign companies’ assets could range from joint ventures to equipment, oil fields and refineries.

Write down vs writedown