How can BP have two different values on the NYSE and London Exchange?

Ezra: How can BP have two different values on the NYSE and London Exchange?
Following the news, I see that “BP shares drop to 300 pence on the London Exchange, and “BP Shares drop to $ 30 on the NYSE. How does a company have different values on different markets? How does that even make sense? Isn’t a share of something worth a certain amount no matter where its traded? Can gold trade on one exchange for $ 1000 and on another for $ 2000? Please someone explain.

Answers and Views:

Answer by agent4927
Market capitalisation does vary on dual listed companies, Unilever is another example. However you also have to remember that because BP shares are $ 30 on NYSE, does not mean the company is valued at many times the price it is in London – the number of shares in issue isn’t the same and they will have been listed at completely different prices when the company first floated on both exchanges.

If you look the stock up on Yahoo finance the UK M Cap is £57.44b / US $ 85.44b (/1.5 = 56.96) so it is about the same value on both exchanges.

Answer by muncie birder
The shares of BP traded on the NYSE are adrs. One US adr is equivalent to 6 London shares.