|
Year ended 30 June |
2014 US$M |
2013 US$M |
Change % |
|
Profit from operations (EBIT) |
23,412 |
21,002 |
11.5% |
|
Attributable profit |
13,832 |
11,223 |
23.2% |
|
Basic earnings per share (cents) |
260.0 |
210.9 |
23.3% |
|
Dividend per share (cents) |
121.0 |
116.0 |
4.3% |
|
Net operating cash flow |
25,364 |
20,154 |
25.9% |
|
Underlying EBITDA(1) |
32,359 |
30,308 |
6.8% |
|
Underlying EBIT(1) |
22,861 |
22,930 |
(0.3%) |
|
Underlying attributable profit |
13,447 |
12,208 |
10.1% |
|
Underlying basic earnings per share (cents)(2) |
252.7 |
229.4 |
10.2% |
|
Capital and exploration expenditure (BHP Billiton share)(4) |
15,181 |
22,291 |
(31.9%) |
Results for the 2014 financial year
BHP Billiton Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Mackenzie, said: "In the last 12 months we have delivered on our commitments. Our operational performance continued to improve, enabling us to exceed production guidance for a number of our core commodities including iron ore, metallurgical coal and petroleum liquids. Productivity-led volume and cost efficiencies(3) of US$2.9 billion were US$1.1 billion ahead of plan, meaning we have now embedded more than US$6.6 billion of sustainable, annualised productivity-led gains over the last two years."
He added: "BHP Billiton is becoming a simpler, more productive company and the demerger proposal we have announced today is an important step forward. We plan to create an independent global metals and mining company based on a selection of high-quality aluminium, coal, manganese, nickel and silver assets. Separating these businesses via a demerger has the potential to unlock shareholder value by allowing BHP Billiton to improve the productivity of its largest businesses more quickly and by creating a new company specifically designed to enhance the performance of its assets. With a simpler portfolio(5), we are targeting at least another US$3.5 billion of productivity-related gains(6) by the end of the 2017 financial year.
"Our Iron Ore business clearly illustrates this opportunity. At Western Australia Iron Ore, we now expect the debottlenecking of our mines and inner harbour infrastructure to increase our supply-chain capacity to 290 Mtpa (100 per cent basis). The additional 65 Mtpa of capacity is likely to have a capital intensity below US$50 per annual tonne with the improvement in productivity and economies of scale also expected to significantly reduce unit costs.
"With robust volume growth and further productivity gains expected, we remain confident in the outlook for the Group. On this basis, we increased our full-year progressive base dividend by four per cent to 121 US cents per share for an Underlying payout ratio of 48 per cent. We will seek to steadily increase or at least maintain the dividend per share in US dollar terms at each half-yearly payment following the demerger, implying a higher payout ratio."
He concluded by saying: "The pace at which our balance sheet strengthens will also depend on external factors, such as commodity prices and foreign exchange rates. As in the past, we will return excess cash to shareholders in the most efficient way. By ensuring that we start from a position of strength, we will be well placed to implement an enduring program that can be managed in a more consistent and predictable manner."
