THE BIG READ
Nimble Anglo keeps market guessing
Is three-minerals plan still driving miner?
At the end of 2015, Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani stood in front of investors and told them the 100-year-old company's long-term strategy was to focus on three minerals: copper, diamonds and platinum. Now, with a new shareholder pouring cold water on that plan and endorsing Anglo's current portfolio of 37 assets - from 68 - some analysts believe it has quietly (yet officially) abandoned the three-minerals strategy. Others think it remains part of Anglo's long-term plans. Perhaps Anglo owes the market clarity. In June this year the company said it would no longer sell assets - such as Kumba Iron Ore and its coal assets - in what the market had termed a fire sale as the company needed to cut debt. Sources close to the company said Anglo no longer needed to sell because the company's debt had been reduced to $6.2-billion (R88.7-billion) from $12-billion. Sources said it was important to know that the strategy was devised to deal with the debt issue. And even if commodity prices fall...
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