Latest news with #miningcompany
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
BHP books rise in profit on back of Chinese copper demand
Australian mining giant BHP on Tuesday reported a bump in yearly profits, as China's appetite for copper helped to counter slumping prices for iron ore and coal. Chief executive Mike Henry trumpeted a strong year "marked by record production", with annual net profits rising 14 percent to US$9 billion. But annual results also laid bare the challenging market conditions facing the world's largest mining company. Revenues dropped 8 percent to US$51 billion, while underlying profits -- which can paint a more accurate picture of performance -- fell 26 percent to US$10.2 billion. The company said falling revenues were "primarily due to the decline in iron ore and coal prices". This had been partially rescued by China's higher-than-expected demand for copper, the company said, a critical mineral used in consumer electronics, rechargeable batteries and power lines. "Against a backdrop of global uncertainty this strong performance has led to robust financial outcomes and reflects the resilience of BHP's business and strategy," said Henry. "We remain confident in the long-term fundamentals of steelmaking materials, copper and fertilisers, which are critical to global growth, urbanisation and the energy transition." sft/djw/tym Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Reuters
5 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Iron ore blamed for BHP's profit drop. It may get worse
LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Lower iron ore prices copped the blame for BHP Group reporting its lowest annual underlying profit for five years. But the news is unlikely to get better for the mining giant as iron ore demand flattens in dominant importer China and a wave of new supply threatens to overwhelm any increase in consumption in other countries. BHP ( opens new tab, the world's biggest listed mining company, on Tuesday reported underlying attributable profit of $10.16 billion for the year ended June 30, down 26% from last year and below the Visible Alpha consensus of $10.22 billion. The average realised price BHP received for its iron ore fell by 19% over the financial year. Despite the lower price for its main profit driver, BHP's iron ore mines in Western Australia state remain a prized asset, with the miner reporting a cash cost of $17.29 for producing each metric ton of the key steel raw material. The low cost of mining iron ore compares favourably to the benchmark contract on the Singapore Exchange , which ended at $101.63 a ton on Monday. However, the price has been trending lower since its reached its record high of $223.94 a ton in May 2021, with a high of around $160 in 2022, $131 in 2023, $143 in 2024 and just $107.81 so far in 2025. The decline in prices has largely been driven by a flattening of demand in China, which imports around 75% of global seaborne iron ore, which it uses to produce just over half of the world's steel. China's annual steel output has been anchored in a fairly narrow range around 1 billion tons for the past five years, and 2025 is setting up for a similar outcome. China's steel output dropped to a seven-month low in July of 79.66 million tons, down 4% from June amid weaker construction demand because of high temperatures and heavy rains in some parts of the country. For the first seven months of the China produced 594.47 million tons of steel, putting it on track for annual output around 1 billion tons. There is some optimism that even as China's steel output flattens that increasing production in other countries, especially India, will result in higher iron ore demand. BHP Chief Executive Mike Henry was optimistic about demand for company's commodities in a call with media after the results were released on Tuesday, singling out India as a growth opportunity. The problem for BHP and other iron ore miners is likely to be timing. This is because they are bringing on new supply and while demand for iron ore may well rise in coming years, the increasing risk is that the supply arrives ahead of the demand, much as it did in the last decade, driving the Singapore contract to an all-time low under $40 a ton in December 2015. BHP's Henry said the company is on track to increase its annual iron ore output from 290 million tons to 305 million. But this pales in comparison to what is coming from the massive Simandou project in the West African nation of Guinea, where a consortium of Chinese miners and Rio Tinto ( opens new tab are expected to start shipping by the end of the year. It will take a couple of years for Simandou to ramp up to its planned annual capacity of 120 million tons, but adding that iron ore to the market at a time when other miners including Brazil's Vale ( opens new tab are also lifting output means prices could be driven lower by too much supply. If there is a silver lining for BHP it's that any decline in prices may be limited as high-cost supply becomes uneconomic and leaves the market. There is upwards of 100 million tons per annum of iron ore that is produced at a cost above $90 a ton, and this would be vulnerable if prices drop below this level. Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn, opens new tab and X, opens new tab. The views expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.
Reuters
21 hours ago
- General
- Reuters
Wooden church sets off on slow Swedish road trip to escape mining subsidence
KIRUNA, Sweden, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Sweden's landmark Kiruna Church will begin a two-day trip to a new home on Tuesday, inching down an Arctic road to save its wooden walls from ground subsidence and the expansion of the world's largest underground iron ore mine. Workers have already jacked up the 600-ton, 113-year-old church from its foundations and hefted it onto a specially built trailer - part of a 30-year project to relocate thousands of people and buildings from the Lapland city. Mine-operator LKAB has spent the last year widening the road for the journey which will take the red-painted church - one of Sweden's largest wooden structures, often voted its most beautiful - 5km (3 miles) down a winding route to a brand new Kiruna city centre. The journey will save the church, but take it from the site where it has stood for more than a century. "The church is Kiruna's soul in some way, and in some way it's a safe place," Lena Tjarnberg, the vicar of Kiruna, said. "For me, it's like a day of joy. But I think people also feel sad because we have to leave this place." For many of the region's indigenous Sami community, which has herded reindeer there for thousands of years, the feelings are less mixed. The move is a reminder of much wider changes brought on by the expansion of mining. "This area is traditional Sami land," Lars-Marcus Kuhmunen, chair of the local Gabna Sami community, said. "This area was grazing land and also a land where the calves of the reindeer were born." If plans for another nearby mine go ahead after the move, that would cut the path from the reindeer's summer and winter pastures, making herding "impossible" in the future, he said. "Fifty years ago, my great-grandfather said that the mine is going to eat up our way of life, our reindeer herding. And he was right." The church is just one small part of the relocation project. LKAB says around 3,000 homes and around 6,000 people need to move. A number of public and commercial buildings are being torn down while some, like the church, are being moved in one piece. Other buildings are being dismantled and rebuilt around the new city centre. Hundreds of new homes, shops and a new city hall have also been constructed. The shift should allow LKAB, which produces 80% of the iron ore mined in Europe, to continue to extend the operation of Kiruna for decades to come. The state-owned firm has brought up around 2 billion tonnes of ore since the 1890s, mainly from the Kiruna mine. Mineral resources are estimated at another 6 billion tonnes in Kiruna and nearby Svappavaara and Malmberget. LKAB is now planning the new mine next to the existing Kiruna site. As well as iron ore, the proposed Per Geijer mine contains significant deposits of rare earth elements, a group of 17 metals critical to products from lasers to iPhones and green technology key to meeting Europe's climate goals. Europe - and much of the rest of the world - is currently almost completely dependent on China for the supply and processing of rare earths. In March this year, the EU designated Per Geijer as a Strategic Project which could help speed up the process of getting the new mine into production. Around 5km down the road, Kiruna's new city centre will also be taking shape. "The church is ... a statement or a symbol for this city transformation," mayor Mats Taaveniku told Reuters. "We are right now half on the way. We have 10 years left to move the rest of the city."
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Tom Lee's Ethereum Treasury BitMine Ups ETH Raise by $20 Billion
Bitmine Immersion is upping its fundraise target for buying more ETH by $20 billion, according to the firm's filing with federal regulators on Tuesday, as it jockeys to maintain its standing as the world's largest Ethereum treasury. The cryptocurrency mining company aims to raise a total of $24.5 billion of its common stock. The announcement marks a dramatic expansion of its common stock sale, for which the company had already made $4.5 billion worth of its shares available to investors. Under the sale, Bitmine Immersion's common stock shares will go for $0.0001 each. It is unclear what percentage of Bitmine's stock sale proceeds will go toward purchasing ETH. A company representative did not immediately reply to Decrypt's request for comment on the matter. Bitmine Immersion's expansion of its common stock sale comes as a growing number of publicly traded firms establish Ethereum treasuries, fueling a resurgence in the cryptocurrency's price. Sharplink Gaming, BitMine and EtherMachine and Bit Digital largely began pivoting to accumulating massive amounts of Ethereum as a corporate strategy to lift shares of their stocks, adapting the playbook of Michael Saylor's software firm Strategy, which is the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin. The companies' holdings could soon account for 10% of all Ethereum in circulation, according to one Standard Chartered analyst. And as publicly traded companies snap up greater amounts of Ethereum, the layer-1 token's price has skyrocketed. Solana Meme Coins Slump as Investors Rotate into ETH & 'Quality-Focused' Altcoins ETH is trading just below $4,500 as of writing time, up 50% in the past month and more than 70% year-to-date. That puts it less than 9% below its all-time high of just above $4,900 hit in November 2021. In a Myriad Linea markets, nearly 80% of participants expect Ethereum to trade over $5,000 by years-end. (Disclosure: Myriad is a prediction market and engagement platform developed by Dastan, parent company of an editorially independent Decrypt.) As the altcoin's value has swelled, so too has Bitmine Immersion's stock. The company's shares were recently trading at $62.05 on Tuesday, up 51% in the past month and up nearly 700% in the year to date.
Globe and Mail
7 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Can Agnico Eagle's Ultra-Low Leverage Fuel Bigger Growth?
Agnico Eagle Mines LimitedAEM has made further progress in strengthening its balance sheet, underscoring its commitment to financial discipline. The company remains focused on paying down debt using excess cash, with long-term debt reducing by $550 million sequentially to $595 million at the end of the second quarter. It ended the quarter with a significant net cash position of $963 million, driven by the increase in cash position and reduction of debt. AEM's long-term debt-to-capitalization is just around 2.8%, indicating lower financial risks. This sharp deleveraging, which would lead to reduced interest expenses, was driven by strong free cash flow generation. AEM has a robust liquidity position and generates substantial cash flows, which allow it to maintain a strong exploration budget, finance a strong pipeline of growth projects, pay down debt and drive shareholder value. It recorded second-quarter free cash flow of $1,305 million, more than doubling the prior-year quarter figure of $557 million. This was backed by the strength in gold prices and robust operational results. The company's aggressive deleveraging efforts have rendered enhanced financial flexibility, underpinning confidence in its capacity to fund growth and drive shareholder returns without over-reliance on external financing. Agnico Eagle's ultra-low debt profile also offers a competitive edge in addition to bolstering its ability to reinvest in exploration and development projects. Looking across the peer landscape, Kinross Gold Corporation KGC has also taken steps to improve its leverage profile, thanks to strong free cash flow generation. Kinross improved its net debt position to around $100 million at the end of the second quarter from $540 million in the prior quarter. Notably, Kinross' second-quarter free cash flow surged roughly 87% year over year and 74% from the preceding quarter. Newmont CorporationNEM is balancing deleveraging with post-Newcrest acquisition integration and asset streamlining through strategic non-core divestments. Newmont retired $372 million of debt during the second quarter. Newmont ended the second quarter with net debt of $1,422 million, down from $3,221 million at the end of the prior quarter. The Zacks Rundown for AEM Agnico Eagle's shares have rallied 72.9% year to date against the Zacks Mining – Gold industry's rise of 72.6%, driven by an upswing in gold prices. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research From a valuation standpoint, AEM is currently trading at a forward 12-month earnings multiple of 19.55, a roughly 45.2% premium to the industry average of 13.46X. It carries a Value Score of D. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEM's 2025 and 2026 earnings implies a year-over-year rise of 64.1% and 0.8%, respectively. The EPS estimates for 2025 and 2026 have been trending higher over the past 60 days. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research AEM stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Research Chief Names "Single Best Pick to Double" From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all. This company targets millennial and Gen Z audiences, generating nearly $1 billion in revenue last quarter alone. A recent pullback makes now an ideal time to jump aboard. Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
