Woodford shuns 'very challenged' BP and Shell

Invesco Perpetual's head of investment Neil Woodford warns BP and Shell are not attractive even with higher oil prices.

Woodford says BP and Shell remain "very challenged", and he prefers to invest in BG Group, which is worth around 6% in both the Income and High Income funds. He says: "BP and Shell are very challenged. The costs of finding and exploiting resources on a scale that can offset declines in other parts of their business is rising. "They have become very cash consumptive businesses and in my view there are better opportunities." Historically Woodford's funds have been biased towards the tobacco, pharmaceuticals, utilities and aerospace sectors, reflecting his cautious outlook. He cont...