BHP Divvie Drops to Bear Market Lows

Adriatic tap the market for $80m; Mining services companies report mixed results

February 18, 2025

The Pre-Start

  • BHP will pay a 50c interim dividend after announcing a US$5.1b underlying profit, missing consensus expectations of US$5.4b (BHP)

  • Deterra’s revenue was down 6% to $112m, with $8m coming from Trident sources (masking a 22% drop in iron ore). 9c dividend declared (DRR)

  • Westgold shared Beta Hunt drilling results, with intervals at Fletcher including 41m @ 7.99g/t Au with 5 rigs now turning (WGX)

  • St Barbara objected to the PNG tax assessment which led to it demanding additional tax of ~A$60m & penalties of A$119m. SBM argued the IRC incorrectly applied tax legislation, identifying significant errors (& their respective penalties). It noted a lead officer in the audit was a former St Barbara employee (SBM) It separately shared an update on the installation of a new sizer crusher (SBM)

  • Global Lithium appointed a new chair in Richard O’Shannassy (GL1)

  • Monadelphous declared a 33c dividend following a half in which it NPAT totalled $43m on EBITDA of $80m (MND) Shares up 6%

  • Macmahon’s half year showed revenue up 22% with underlying NPAT up similarly to $47m. It’ll payout a 0.55c dividend (MAH) Down 7%

  • SRG Global’s half saw a 21% jump in revenues, flowing through to a 31% lift in EBIT(A) while it declared a 2.5c dividend (SRG)

  • Logistics group MLG saw revenues jump 20%, though profits fell 43% to $4m (MLG) Stock down 15%

  • Daniel Raihani’s 7 Enterprises has provided Middle Island Resources with a Section 249D Notice (MDI)

  • Kaiser Reef provided an update on development into the Nova Zone, with development extending 20m vertically, TSF5 Lift D works completed and ongoing diamond drilling (KAU)

High Grade It

  • The Chinese government is getting serious about constraining the blind expansion of copper smelters, although its new policy is likely to pause rather than stop development (Bloomberg)

  • Silver prices hit their highest since late October, up 14% year-to-date, latching on to factors that drove gold to successive record highs (Reuters)

  • BHP will pay its lowest interim dividend in 8 years and the bare minimum allowed under its shareholder returns policy as slowing Chinese steel demand drove profits lower (AFR)

  • Gold steadied following its largest one-day decline in two months, with the slump sparked by investor concern that the metal’s recent record-breaking rally may have been overdone (Bloomberg)

  • Aurizon will again consider whether to separate its rail tracks and haulage businesses as the company cuts costs and warns that the full-year profit would be at the lower end of expectations (AFR)

  • Near miss for ASX miners in Malawi after it banned, then un-banned mineral exports last week while it rejigs its regulatory framework (MNN)

  • BlueScope, Australia's largest steelmaker, will be a beneficiary of U.S. Trump's protectionist tariffs, CEO Mark Vassella said (Reuters), while surging nearly 13% after posting H1 earnings near the top end of guidance (CB)

  • While BlueScope hailed Trump tariffs as a net positive, it’s pushing the Albanese gov’t to implement tough anti-dumping measures against China (Australian)

  • Amplats declared an additional cash payout of US$856m as it prepares for an exit by parent Anglo American later this year (Bloomberg)

Wheelin’ n Dealin’

  • Embattled steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta has put his Tahmoor coking coal mine in NSW up for sale (MNN)

  • Fortescue’s deal to takeover Red Hawk has progressed to compulsory acquisition (RHK)

Rattlin’ the Tin

  • Adriatic is raising US$50m at A$3.90 (3.7% discount) in new equity to “fast track Vares expansion & enhance balance sheet flexibility” (ADT) Might be more of the latter than the former

Word on the Decline

  • Last week we saw Pembroke secure US$550 million via a Nordic bond. Just before that, we heard whispers in Cape Town that a Nordic bond was on its way to fund a gold plant in Australia… Did we confuse “gold” with “coal”? Or can we expect to see the unconventional form of finance once again in short order?

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In the Weeds

  • Bismuth, a Little-Known Metal Spikes as China-US Trade Showdown Hits Home (Bloomberg)

  • There’s a revolution going on inside BHP (AFR’s Chanticleer)

  • Record Floods Devastate Southern WV Coal Country (Coal Trader)

  • Ukraine’s Potemkin minerals: A rare earth deal with the US would be good diplomacy, but its all smoke and mirrors (MNN)

  • Chips, silver and HPA: unearthing profit in the AI goldrush (Livewire)

  • Trump: tariffs have given US Steel new lease on life (MNN)

  • Mining tech startup Banksia believes it has “cracked the code" on copper (CB)

  • Dryblower: Anglo’s ghost to haunt new BHP boss (MNN)

  • Precious Metals: The Return of the West (GoRozen)

  • The Coalition is leading Labor in new polls, with surveys showing an increasing possibility of a hung parliament (Bloomberg)

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Today’s Top Tweet

Devil’s in the Detail

This chart from BHP’s results presentation reminds us of a recent conversation we had with a former Oz Minerals executive who suggested to us that post Mike Henry’s reign, someone should pitch BHP spin out their South Australian copper portfolio!

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