BHP

BHP generated record profits, cash flows and dividends but it is the absence of any meaningful debt that gives it a lot of flexibility in a volatile ...

BHP is also studying the potential for an expansion of its West Australian iron ore business’ capacity from 290 million tonnes a year to 330 million tonnes. In all likelihood it will be a mix of all of the above. Beijing will do whatever it can to maintain some level of growth. Even without M&A activity, therefore, there are several potential large and smaller-scale drivers of growth in the group’s pipeline. COVID-19-related costs and disruptions, the South Flank ramp up and higher diesel and electricity costs impacted operations. Stephen Bartholomeuszis one of Australia’s most respected business journalists. BHP still has scars from its overpriced and ultimately costly share oil acquisition splurge in the US a decade ago. In the last financial year it invested $US6.1 billion in its existing portfolio. BHP is in a tremendously strong position and Mike Henry has lots of options. Within the latest result there were some challenges. In the 2024 financial year its forecast is for $US9 billion of capex and exploration spending and beyond that an average of $US10 billion as the group ramps up its organic growth rate. It generated record free cash flows of $US24.3 billion.

If you've invested in BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares, then you might want to read a little further about the company's latest dividend.

Based on today’s price, BHP commands a market capitalisation of $205 billion and has a trailing dividend yield of 11.81%. The BHP board declared a final dividend for FY22 of US$1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date for the final dividend falls on 1 September, with payment following on 22 September 2022. The cash dividend announced today is equivalent to a 77% payout ratio. This brings the total FY22 dividend to US$3.25 per share, an increase of 8% compared to FY21’s full-year dividend. Let’s take a look at the latest dividend from the company.

Australian miner benefits as war in Ukraine crimps Russian fuel exports.

At 8.20am the blue chip index was trading 30.91 points higher at 7540.06.

Shares in London are expected to make a bright start to trading on Tuesday following gains in the US overnight, strong results from BHP and as investors digested the latest UK unemployment and wage growth data. Unemployment is seen remaining at 3.8% for the three months to June. In May job vacancies stood at 1.3mln and the employment rate was 75.9%, a fraction below the pre-pandemic peaks. Chief Executive Officer Mike Henry said China’s emergence from the Covid-19 lockdowns would provide a “tailwind” to the global economy, in a counterpoint to jittery sentiment on China following a swath of surprisingly weak data. The producer will study plans to expand its top-earning iron ore unit to 330mln tonnes of production a year, and is continuing to assess options to lift volumes in copper and nickel. With regard to the unemployment numbers Tombs said indicators suggest that it will start to rise far sooner than the Bank of England anticipates with a fall in job vacancies of 0.7% reflecting the deterioration in timelier measures of vacancies from Adzuna and LinkedIn, as well as the recent sharp fall in the permanent staff placements balance of the REC Report on Jobs survey. “The FTSE100 again showed its mettle in the face of an uncertain economic outlook at home and abroad, and ticked higher in early exchanges to stand ahead by 2% in the year to date.” Commentating on today's UK jobs and wages figures Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics said: “The headline rate of year-over-year growth in average weekly earnings, including bonuses, decreased to 5.1% in June, from 6.4% in May, but exceeded the consensus, 4.5%, while the headline rate excluding bonuses increased to 4.7%, from 4.4%, and also exceeded the consensus, 4.5%." Shares in BHP Group Limited surged 3.91% after the mining group posted its highest ever full-year profit on record commodity prices, and said it will push ahead with growth options on a stronger demand outlook in China. FTSE 100 opened higher on Tuesday following late rallies by US stocks overnight, strength in mining stocks following record profits from Anglo Australian mining group, BHP, and as investors digested the latest UK jobs and wages growth data. A late rally by US stocks overnight also provided support and offset concerns following data in the UK today which showed a record fall in real terms pay according to the Office for National Statistics. “Despite the well-publicised concerns about the macro-environment, demand for our products remains robust with client registration of interest lists continuing to extend…We continue to focus on attracting new clients and growing market share in the UK and US.” Dani noted “the outlook statement highlights that, despite the macroeconomic uncertainties, the group reiterates guidance for full year 2023 on the basis of a continued strong luxury watch market in the UK and US."

Suppliers who act illegally or unethically can significantly impact our reputation and potentially expose BHP and our employees to criminal and civil ...

Raise queries about unclear or excessive charges. We encourage our suppliers to be transparent on matters important to society, including on their beneficial ownership. We only seek to work with suppliers who are willing to adhere to similar values as our own.

Seek approval for involvement in any business-related event or activity organised by, or on behalf of, a political party or candidate and be transparent when ...

• Pay wages or salaries, fringe benefits or remuneration of any kind to a BHP employee working for a political party or candidate during normal working hours. • Use, or allow others to use, any BHP information, assets or resources (including donations or sponsorships) for a political campaign, party or candidate, elected official or any of their affiliated organisations. • Attend an event or activity during work hours or on behalf of BHP which is intended for political fundraising.

BHP chief executive Mike Henry says OZ Minerals is not a “must have” for his company as he unveiled the second-biggest profit in the company's history and a ...

An $8.3 billion bid for OZ Minerals suggests it will leave no stone unturned in the next attempt. But few in the coal industry expect BHP to own it long term. - BHP puts large-scale mining M&A back on the map. This implies that price support is also expected to be higher than in previous cycles and low-cost operators stand to capture higher relative margins,” BHP said. BHP’s bid for OZ Minerals has lit the fuse for a wave of large-scale deals, with fund managers tipping BHP’s big rivals including Rio Tinto and Anglo American to follow suit with deals of their own. The 2011 record profit was achieved with the help of the petroleum assets that now reside within Woodside and the cluster of minerals assets that now reside within South32. BHP argued that shareholder returns for the year were actually closer to $US36 billion including the Woodside shares granted to BHP shareholders in exchange for the sale of BHP’s petroleum division. Analysts had expected BHP to report a $US20.88 billion underlying profit excluding the petroleum division that was sold to Woodside during the year. The Queensland coking coal division will also suffer rising costs in the year ahead, with each tonne expected to cost up to $US100 a tonne excluding state royalties, shipping and other costs; the division produced coal for less than $US83 per tonne in the year ending June 2021. But BHP signalled that unit costs in the iron ore division were also set to surge as high as $US19 a tonne excluding royalties, shipping and some other administration costs; the division produced iron ore at a cost of $US14.82 a tonne as recently as the year ending June 2021. “We expect China to emerge as a source of stability for commodity demand in the year ahead with policy support progressively taking hold,” he said in a statement. BHP chief executive Mike Henry says OZ Minerals is not a “must have” for his company as he unveiled the second-biggest profit in the company’s history and a record dividend worth $US16.3 billion ($23.2 billion).

BHP chief executive Mike Henry keeps stressing the company's growing contribution to the energy transition. But coal accounted for almost a quarter of ...

Henry has moved to appease ESG investors by freezing investment in coal. It means BHP is off limits to most of the world’s major banks and excluded from powerful ESG-focused investment funds. Henry is a pragmatist. It is not clear whether Henry is willing to educate the world’s ESG-focused investors that it is in the interests of the environment for BHP to continue selling metallurgical coal to the Chinese for many decades to come. BHP’s climate change disclosures reveal that metallurgical coal is far less of a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions than iron ore, which comprises about 11 per cent of the total downstream emissions associated with the processing of BHP’s sold products of 307 metric tons of carbon-dioxide equivalent. While it is true BHP sold its BHP Mitsui Coal and Cerrejón coal interests in this year, chief executive Mike Henry is yet to decide to walk away from metallurgical coal, which is through the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA).

At 8.50am the blue chip index was trading 17.71 points higher at 7526.86 while the broader FTSE 250 index was 14.35 points to the good at...

Hope is growing that the US may avoid recession, but big risks remain and inflation is still a wild threat yet to be tamed," Streeter said. Shares in London are expected to make a bright start to trading on Tuesday following gains in the US overnight, strong results from BHP and as investors digested the latest UK unemployment and wage growth data. Chief Executive Officer Mike Henry said China’s emergence from the Covid-19 lockdowns would provide a “tailwind” to the global economy, in a counterpoint to jittery sentiment on China following a swath of surprisingly weak data. “The FTSE100 again showed its mettle in the face of an uncertain economic outlook at home and abroad, and ticked higher in early exchanges to stand ahead by 2% in the year to date.” With regard to the unemployment numbers Tombs said indicators suggest that it will start to rise far sooner than the Bank of England anticipates with a fall in job vacancies of 0.7% reflecting the deterioration in timelier measures of vacancies from Adzuna and LinkedIn, as well as the recent sharp fall in the permanent staff placements balance of the REC Report on Jobs survey. “It looks like BHP is keen to deploy its $4bn of cash as it seeks out effective M&A opportunities in the sector.” “Despite the well-publicised concerns about the macro-environment, demand for our products remains robust with client registration of interest lists continuing to extend…We continue to focus on attracting new clients and growing market share in the UK and US.” “However, these numbers are in the rear-view mirror; of more interest is BHP’s expectation for a big rebound in resource-hungry China. BHP’s excitement about improving Chinese prospects is at odds with the more sober commentary delivered by many of its rivals.” “The controversy surrounding its co-founder Mike Lynch hasn’t helped Darktrace, as he continues to fight extradition to the US on fraud charges” Hewson said adding “in the context of all these challenges, it is perhaps not that surprising that Darktrace may want to move out of the spotlight.” Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "Perhaps a privatisation of Darktrace is the best way to avoid the uncertainty of this year's market gyrations, with the potential to float the company once again in the coming years once confidence is restored in equities.” “Given the challenge ahead for the global economy there is an expectation that the US Federal Reserve, in the face of the slowdown, will turn down the dial on interest rate rises,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. London shares remained in an upbeat mood, and close to session highs, at midday boosted by gains in mining stocks following strong results from BHP today and despite expectations for a subdued restart in the US today.

BHP boss Mike Henry says takeover target Oz Minerals would be 'nice to have' but is not a 'must-have' as the miner searches for more copper and nickel.

“I must admit, I thought last year we might have seen the maximum dividend,” he said. BHP’s share price climbed 4 per cent on Tuesday as it revealed its underlying attributable profit had soared 40 per cent to a better-than-expected $US23.8 billion ($34 billion) for the year to June 30. While investors and analysts have flagged the likelihood of BHP returning with a more attractive offer, Henry said the miner would remain “so disciplined” when it came to decisions around potential acquisitions.

BHP boss Mike Henry says the big miner will stay disciplined in a bid to avoid overpaying as it looks to takeover copper miner OZ Minerals.

They are after more for what they say is a business with significant legs in front of it from the decarbonisation and electrification narrative. BHP says in a plausible upside case for demand the industry-wide capex bill to 2030 could reach US$250 billion. “We spent a number of years now, building trust with shareholders. “Lithium is one because of the scale of the individual assets and the cost curve over time, we’re happy to leave to others. “But for us when we need to make choices about what we see as the most attractive commodities offering the greatest long term potential most aligned with BHP’s capability, we see that as potash, copper and nickel in addition to the iron ore and high quality met coal businesses we have. “Rio Tinto remains as committed as ever to the long-term success of Oyu Tolgoi. While we are disappointed by this decision, we will continue to work constructively with the board of Turquoise Hill to advance the Oyu Tolgoi project,” Rio copper CEO Bold Baatar said. “Against the backdrop of what we see as being slower overall global growth, and central banks putting in place measures to deal with the higher inflation we’re seeing in most developed economies, if I contrast that then with China, as China comes out of its COVID lockdowns and so on, we see that see that as being a tailwind for global growth,” he told reporters this morning. “Ultimately, we concluded that a transaction at the price proposed by Rio Tinto would not fairly compensate minority shareholders for the fundamental, long-term value of the company’s interest in Oyu Tolgoi,” special committee chair Maryse Saint-Laurent said. Still, the company says the offer “does not fully and fairly reflect the fundamental and long-term strategic value of the company’s majority ownership of the Oyu Tolgoi project”. Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) was yesterday rebuffed in its attempts to take over its 51% owned subsidiary Turquoise Hill Mining for US$2.7bn, a deal that would have given it a two-thirds share of the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia. “Over 30% premium for last day trade over 40% premium to the 30-day VWAP and off the back of that and how compelling that is for all shareholders, it was really disappointing to see the other side not engage.” BHP’s investment in exploration is set to hit US$400 million, up from around US$150m a couple of years ago, with much of that dedicated to battery metals like copper and nickel.

BHP's record profit, dividend and tax payments probably represent a near-term peak as commodity prices fall. But Mike Henry isn't taking his foot off the ...

Higher costs and a higher capex bill are also a reminder that digging stuff out of the ground in a safe and sustainable way is simply going to become harder and more expensive in the coming decades. While analysts have roundly praised BHP’s operational performance and financial results for the 2022 year, BHP’s guidance that capital expenditure will sit around $US10 billion a year over the medium term will give the market something to chew over. But few in the coal industry expect BHP to own it long term. Henry is clearly alive to the potential for complacency, but the “quiet confidence” that insiders describe should be powerful if harnessed in the right way. An $8.3 billion bid for OZ Minerals suggests it will leave no stone unturned in the next attempt. Henry made his disappointment with OZ’s lack of engagement plain on Tuesday, but was equally clear that BHP wouldn’t drop its discipline in the pursuit of the South Australian miner. Edgar Basto, previously head of BHP’s Australian mining division, will move to the newly created role of chief operating officer, as Henry hunts for even more operational wins that put a bigger gap between BHP and its competitors. “Now’s the time for us to set ourselves further apart and really look to safety, high performance, operational reliability in a way that stands the test of time. Henry argues, for example, that while the energy crisis might see coal-fired power production rise in the short term, the eventual result will be a renewed commitment to the energy transition. “The bigger picture remains very compelling for BHP, even in the face of global uncertainty,” Henry says. But perhaps the most stunning return was the one BHP delivered to the communities that host it. The company estimates 70 per cent of all Australians will get a slice of those returns, either as direct owners of BHP shares or through their superannuation fund.

BHP will pay almost US$9b in cash dividends after a record 2022 financial year, and plans to lift iron ore exports in the medium term.

BHP says in a plausible upside case for demand the industry-wide capex bill to 2030 could reach US$250 billion. “Tight labour markets will remain a challenge for global and local supply chains. He says a “take-off” of demand from copper intensive and easier-to-abate sectors of the economy are expected to be a key feature of industry dynamics in the second half of the 2020s “if not earlier”. “Grade decline, resource depletion, water constraints, the increased depth and complexity of known development options and a scarcity of high–quality future development opportunities are likely to result in the higher prices needed to attract sufficient investment to balance the market.” BHP is guiding costs of FY23 of US$18-19/t at WAIO, with costs at its Escondida copper mine rising from US$1/lb to US$1.25-1.45/lb and its BMA coal mines in Queensland up from US$82.64/t to US$90-100/t. “We expect China to emerge as a source of stability for commodity demand in the year ahead, with policy support progressively taking hold,” he said.

BHP has announced massive numbers in its report for the 2022 financial year, including a record $US36 billion returns to shareholders.

“Tight labour markets will remain a challenge for global and local supply chains. The miner said its result was partially offset by COVID-19 restrictions and supply constraints, higher inflation affecting diesel, electricity and consumable prices, along with lower copper grades at Escondida and wet weather at its BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) coal operations in the Bowen Basin. BHP said its FY22 profit increase stemmed from higher coal and copper prices and a strong underlying operational performance, including record sales at its Western Australia iron ore operations (WAIO) and near record concentrator throughput at its Escondida copper mine in Chile. The report also indicated an attributable profit of $US30.9 billion ($44 billion), net operating cash flow of $US29.3 billion ($1.73 billion) and record free cash flow of $US24.3 billion ($34.61 billion) for continuing operations. “The direct and indirect impacts of Europe’s energy crisis are a particular point of concern. Amid the record numbers, Henry said geopolitical factors would continue to affect the company in the near future.