From Breakingviews - BHP investors aren’t seeing the wood for the trees
CEO of BHP Mike Henry is interviewed at a Reuters NEXT Newsmaker event in New York City, U.S., November 30, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
MELBOURNE, Feb 21 - Mike Henry is becoming a transformation expert. Since taking over as boss of Australian miner BHP at the start of 2020, he has sold its most polluting units, including the oil and gas division and some coal assets, and is buying more energy-transition metals while being careful not to overpay. Meanwhile, he’s digging up good results in volatile markets. Yet shareholders don’t yet seem to appreciate the big shift underway.of $6.5 billion for the six months to the end of December missed estimates by some 7%.
Those results should give investors comfort that Henry and his team have a strong handle on costs that they can control. Meanwhile, BHP’s pending $6 billion acquisition of will give it more access to the copper and nickel that will be crucial to powering electric vehicles and renewable-energy infrastructure. He is also making mining operations more efficient. That’s most evident in BHP extending its lead last year as the lowest-cost iron ore producer.
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