BHP Billiton Reports Worst-Ever Annual Loss
August 16 2016 - 4:10AM
Dow Jones News
SYDNEY—BHP Billiton Ltd. swung to its worst-ever loss and cut
its final dividend by 77% as the world's No. 1 miner by market
value recorded large write-downs and grappled with a slump in
commodity prices.
The Melbourne, Australia-based miner on Tuesday said it swung to
a net loss of US$6.39 billion for the year through June from a
year-earlier profit of US$1.91 billion. A loss of US$5.8 billion
was the median of eight analyst forecasts compiled by The Wall
Street Journal.
The company, which in February abandoned a policy to keep
payouts stable or rising year after year, cut its final dividend to
US$0.14 a share. That was well below the US$0.62-a-share payout at
the corresponding stage in 2015.
BHP said its bottom line was weighed by impairment charges
totaling US$7.7 billion, including US$4.9 billion in write-downs
against its U.S. onshore petroleum division and a US$2.2 billion
provision relating to last year's deadly dam failure at iron-ore
mining operations in Brazil that it jointly owns with Vale SA.
Underlying profit, stripping out one-time charges, slumped 81%
to US$1.22 billion.
While commodity markets have bounced this year, prices over
BHP's full fiscal year were down from a year earlier, hurt most by
oversupply. A China-led boom in prices that ended earlier this
decade sparked a spending spree in the mining sector, as companies
expanded their operations to meet surging demand from Asia.
In the downturn, BHP—like its peers—has been focused on cutting
costs and working existing mines harder to boost margins. BHP said
it saved US$437 million through improving the efficiency of its
businesses during the period.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 16, 2016 03:55 ET (07:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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