LONDON May 2 (Reuters) – Miner BHP Billiton moved to
reassure investors fretting over its spending on “mega
projects”, promising discipline and potential non-core asset
sales in one of the sector’s clearest efforts to address market
worries over the cost of growth.
BHP, the world’s largest miner, has said it will
“live within its means”, but went further on Wednesday to soothe
concerns, as investors across the sector fret over the prospects
of flattening demand for some commodities while the sector’s
organic growth pipeline totals some $180 billion.
Alberto Calderon, BHP’s chief executive of aluminium, nickel
and corporate development, said in a presentation the company
had “substantial flexibility” to sequence investments – stagger
their progress – and would match spending to cash flows.
Laying out BHP’s plan, he said projects would be “be
approved in a sequence that maximises value, reduces risk and
balances short- and long-term returns”.
Calderon said BHP was committed to a progressive dividend,
but gave little hope to investors expecting more discipline on
major projects could mean a fresh share buyback.
LARGE-SCALE FOCUS
Calderon did, however, signal the miner could sell off more
non-core operations, a stance mirrored across the sector as the
major players focus on simple, large-scale operations.
Continued…
