Context. The light variability of hot magnetic chemically peculiar stars is typically caused by the flux redistribution in spots with peculiar abundance. This raises the question why some stars with surface abundance spots show significant rotational light variability, while others do not. Aims. We study the Bp star HD 64740 to investigate how its remarkable inhomogeneities in the surface distribution of helium and silicon, and the corresponding strong variability of many spectral lines, can result in one of the faintest photometric variabilities among the Bp stars. Methods. We used model atmospheres and synthetic spectra calculated for the silicon and helium abundances from surface abundance maps to predict the ultraviolet and visual light and line variability of HD 64740. The predicted fluxes and line profiles were compared with the observed ones derived with the IUE, HST, and Hipparcos satellites and with spectra acquired using the FEROS spectrograph at the 2.2 m MPG/ESO telescope in La Silla. Results. We are able to reproduce the observed visual light curve of HD 64740 assuming an inhomogeneous distribution of iron correlated with silicon distribution. The light variations in the ultraviolet are hardly detectable. We detect the variability of many ultraviolet lines of carbon, silicon, and aluminium and discuss the origin of these lines and the nature of their variations. Conclusions. The maximum abundances of helium and silicon on the surface of HD 64740 are not high enough to cause significant light variations. The detected variability of many ultraviolet lines is most likely of atmospheric origin and reflects the inhomogeneous elemental surface distribution. The variability of the C iv resonance lines of carbon is stronger and it probably results from the dependence of the wind mass-loss rate on the chemical composition and magnetic field orientation. We have not been able to detect a clear signature of the matter trapped in the circumstellar clouds.

Abstract. The nature of the light variations of chemically peculiar stars was studied in detail only in a very few cases. To better understand the mechanisms of light variability of these stars, we study the light variations of the well-known magnetic chemically peculiar star CU Vir and one of the least amplitude variable stars HD 64740. We show that the light variability of these stars is induced by flux redistribution in spots of enhanced abundance of chemical elements (e.g., helium, silicon, iron or chromium), and by the stellar rotation. We conclude that this is a promising model for the explanation of the light variability of most chemically peculiar stars.