South32’s full-year loss blows out to $US1.6bn
BHP spin-off South32’s full-year loss has widened to $US1.6bn as it continues to grapple with the commodities slump.
BHP Billiton spin-off South32 has seen its full-year loss blow out as it continues to grapple with an ongoing downturn in world commodity markets.
South32 today booked a loss of $US1.62 billion for the year through June, a significant deterioration of the prior year’s $US919 million loss.
Revenue for the diversified miner (S32) slumped 25 per cent to $US5.8bn over its first full year as a publicly-listed stand-alone group.
Still, the board decided to pay a US1c per share final dividend, unfranked.
Chief executive Graham Kerr was upbeat on the figures, and noted that the miner achieved five production records and hit guidance targets for the majority of its operations.
“We will continue to unlock the potential of our portfolio, identify opportunities and pursue investments where we see value, but will not compromise our strong balance sheet and investment grade credit rating,” Mr Kerr said.
“Twelve months on, South32 is a much stronger company with significantly lower costs and a balance sheet that provides flexibility,” he said.
South32 has already cut its workforce by almost a fifth, and Mr Kerr said the group had made cost savings of $US386m over the year, along with reducing its investment spend by $US306m. The miner booked $US51m worth of redundancy costs over the year.
South32, like other miners, has embarked on cutting costs and a productivity drive when prices of commodities such as coal and nickel trade near multiyear lows.
As a result of its restructuring, South32 said it was well-positioned to achieving the majority of its operation cost targets over the coming year.