BHP Billiton’s net profit fell 61.8 per cent to $US5.88 billion ($7.08bn), breaking a run of six consecutive annual profit records.
The full-year net profit result at the world’s biggest miner was hit by the global slump in commodity prices.
The miner posted attributable profit of $US10.72 billion, excluding exceptional items, for the 12 months ended June 30, just ahead of the average analyst forecast for $US10.2 billion; the result compares with $US15.37 billion in fiscal 2008.
Despite its size, the resources giant was not immune from the sharp drop in commodity prices in the past financial year and had noted big falls in demand and output declines in metallurgical coal, nickel and manganese, in its full-year production report.
BHP said today that the past year had encompassed both record commodity prices in many products and a collapse in demand, exacerbated by dramatic movements in inventory levels.
“While the impact of weaker commodity prices and collapsing demand presented a major challenge to many companies, our underlying EBIT margin and return on capital remained very healthy at 40.1 per cent and 24.6 per cent respectively,” the company
said in a statement.
BHP Billiton also said that, while its underlying EBIT decreased by 25.0 per cent to $US18,214 million, it generated record net operating cash flows, which rose 6 per cent to $US18,863m.
“The outstanding cash-flow result has allowed us to reduce our net debt to $US5586m and continue to invest strongly in our capital and exploration programs ($US10,735m),” it said in a statement.
