BG share price drops amid delays and stalling growth

Thanks to project delays, stalling output growth and a steep drop in its share price, despite healthy third-quarter results, the UK company faces its trickiest time yet

Regardless of whether reports in November that BG Group had hired Rothschild and Goldman Sachs to prepare a defense strategy for any hostile takeover are correct, the British gas company is, nevertheless, in a tight spot. "It is disappointing, but our company has managed to add about 1 billion barrels of resource a year, and that resource resides inside the company," chief executive Frank Chapman told analysts. BG’s reserve replacement ratio has been 200% since 2008, about twice the industry average. For some, the 21% drop in the share price on 31 October was overdone, but others point out this is actually part of a retreat that began in spring, which has seen the shares fall by over 30% to