Big global mining groups surprise with the speed of their recovery
The speed of the mining recovery is faster than anything seen in the past decade. BHP Billiton and Anglo American on Tuesday reported the biggest profit increases since at least 2007 on deep cost cuts and rebounding metal prices. The earnings exceeded analysts estimates and highlight mining’s dramatic reversal of fortune in the past year. The industry is coming back from a crisis that forced some top metal producers to sell assets, cut costs and rein in spending after years of overinvestment. Metal prices have largely recovered from the downturn and several of the biggest mines are profitable after bleeding cash. "You can see how cash generative this business can be," Paul Gait, said a Sanford C Bernstein analyst in London. "I think 2017 is a year of strategic repositioning and rethinking." BHP, the biggest mining group, boosted its dividend more than analysts expected and said it will carry out a $2.5bn bond buyback. Underlying profit rose to $3.24bn in the six months to December, ...
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