Tag: BHP

A week before BHP Billiton releases what is expected to be a big rise in annual profit and a higher dividend, US hedge fund Elliott Management says it has raised its stake in BHP Billiton to 5% – but the reason for the rise is unknown except that it generated some publicity yesterday.

Very quietly, BHP has boosted its spending over the next year on its revamp of its huge Olympic Dam mining operations in South Australia to more than $10 million a week.

BHP is looking for a significant surge in earnings (and dividends) for the June 30 year after turning in a June quarter and full year production report that was surprisingly stronger than expected.

BHP reports its 2016-17 production and sales data in less than two weeks and the full year financial results a month later, but one thing you will hear more of is the looming decision on a new multi-billion dollar iron ore mine in the WA Pilbara region that replace its veteran Yandi operation in around 8 years time.

BHP has chosen former Amcor CEO, Ken MacKenzie to succeed Jac Nasser as Chairman from later this year.

Believe it not BHP is looking to invest more in its underperforming West Australian nickel project at Mount Keith.

This is the story many in the business media and the investment industry won’t tell you – but that attack on BHP from a US hedge fund and private equity group has collapsed as it has been forced to significantly recast its ideas.

As expected (especially after Rio Tinto’s ((RIO)) first quarter production report a week ago), BHP Billiton (BHP) has reported a 20% drop in copper production for the quarter and the nine months to the end of March and cut its full-year production guidance by around 18% due to industrial action at its Escondida mine in northern Chile.

BHP Billiton has again dismissed a wide-ranging proposal by shareholder Elliott Advisors to overhaul its corporate strategy and sell off oil interests, saying the measures would not benefit the firm.

Elliott Advisors is all upset that BHP Billiton (BHP) rejected the plan to end the dual company structure, but keep the separate listings in London and Australia and to spin off and float the company’s petroleum business on the New York Stock Exchange.

BHP Billiton (BHP) shares bolted higher yesterday (taking the wider market up by nearly three quarters of a per cent) after a hedge fund released a letter it had sent to the board urging the company to spin off some of its petroleum business and list it on stockmarket.

Coal prices might be rising sharply, boosting of the prices of some miners on the hope of a temporary boost from the shortage of high grade steel making and thermal coal from Central Queensland, but it seems the surge may be losing ist impact if the performance of Whitehaven Coal shares are any guide.

BHP Billiton (BHP) has moved further to exploit the Trion discovery in Mexico in what is a ground-breaking deal for the country and which will BHP become the first foreign company to do a deal with the country to develop hydrocarbon assets.

What a difference a year makes.

Copper took over as the commodity under focus late last week after a strike forced BHP Billiton (BHP) to curtail activity at its huge Escondida mine in Chile and declaring force majeure on contracted shipments.

BHP Billiton’s (BHP) production of iron ore and metallurgical coal for the first half of the 2016-17 financial year is up, but volumes dropped in its petroleum, copper and thermal coal businesses.

BHP Billiton has given the firmest signal yet that it has moved past its shale oil and gas phase in the US with commitments to help fund two major Gulf of Mexico projects worth an estimated $US20 billion.

Suddenly, BHP Billiton (BHP) is bouncy, upbeat and looking forward as world commodity prices, led by coal, and helped by continuing solid prices for iron ore, show more signs of a rebound.

With a missed debt payment hanging over its head and BHP Billiton (BHP) and its Brazilian partner, Vale, still facing massive costs and penalties from the Brazilian government, a game of ‘dare’ has emerged over the future of the Samarco iron ore mine where a disastrous dam collapse late last year devastated villages and the environment, killing people and causing billions of dollars in damage.

Has BHP Billiton (BHP) identified a new gold/copper rush?

BHP Billiton (BHP) has again emphasised the growth options in its petroleum business, continuing its belief that oil and gas (and copper) are the best placed of its areas of interest for expansion in the next few years.

BHP Billiton shares will come under pressure on the ASX this morning after its 50% owned Brazilian iron ore miner, Samarco, missed an interest payment on $US500 million of bonds.

The Samarco mine disaster in Brazil has seen BHP Billiton’s board drop the bonus that would have been paid to CEO, Andrew Mackenzie for the year to June 30. Nineteen people died in the wake of the dam burst and flooding and dozens were injured, Several villages were destroyed and damage in the billions of dollars was caused.

So the big bad BHP news is out, dividends are down, the company’s turned in a loss for the year to June (and a much smaller underlying result) and there’s a bit of gloom and doom about. So what about the next year or two?

As expected, BHP Billiton took a big loss from the cost of the Samarco dam disaster in Brazil late last year, and slashed dividend because of the weaker underlying earnings performance.

As expected BHP Billiton has fallen short of its 2016-17 iron ore production targets but has topped its full year guidance for petroleum, copper and coking coal.

Take a careful look at BHP Billiton (BHP) and US gas and oil prices and wonder if there are better times in the offing for the company’s onshore unconventional oil and gas business in the US which has been a massive loss-making disaster area for the board, management and shareholders in recent years.

BHP Billiton says it is looking for another $US600 million ($A800 million) in cost cuts in its coal business over the next year, as well as floating the idea it could sell off more assets – as it did in Indonesia several weeks ago.

BHP Billiton (BHP) continues to sell off unwanted small scale assets, this time flicking coal mining assets in Indonesia to its partner.

BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie has defiantly told a mining conference that the company is not going to be tied down, “waiting for prices to recover”.

BHP Billiton has joined its big rival Rio Tinto in trimming its West Australian iron ore production guidance.

Shares in BHP Billiton (BHP) continued to ignore last week’s downgrade by ratings group, Moody’s, rising for yet another day thanks to the continued rebound in key commodity prices.

BHP Billiton (BHP) shares rose strongly yesterday despite the news that the company and Vale had reached agreement on the first of the costly claims involving last November’s Samarco dam disaster.

Despite the sharp fall in interim profit and abandonment of its previous progressive dividend policy, BHP Billiton remains on the hunt for purchases in the copper and oil sectors, even as it acknowledges the outlook for its key commodities will be weaker than previously thought.

The slide in iron ore, copper, oil and gas prices in the six months to December has forced BHP Billiton (BHP) to bite the bullet and slash interim dividend 74% to just 16 cents a share.

The pressure is mounting on BHP Billiton (BHP) to cut or drop its dividend.

BHP Billiton (BHP) is facing another billion dollar hit to its bottom line (on top of last week’s $A10 billion whack) and has cut its full year iron ore production target thanks to the Samarco disaster in Brazil.

Brazil’s federal and state governments will sue BHP Billiton (BHP), Vale, (the owners of the Samarco iron ore miner) for 20 billion reais ($7.2 billion) in damages caused by the burst of a tailings dam on November and killed and injured two dozen people and caused widespread damage, according to the country’s Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira.