Investing.com - Mining giant BHP Group Ltd (ASX:BHP) has reported its lowest half-year profit in eight years, following significant reductions in the value of its struggling nickel assets in Australia and iron ore assets in Brazil.
While the company's underlying profit stood solid at $US6.6 billion ($10.1 billion), a stark contrast was seen in its statutory profits, which plummeted to $US927 million due to $US5.7 billion in impairments and charges. This is the company's weakest statutory profit since February 2016, when it recorded a half-year loss of $US5.6 billion, also affected by impairments.
Shareholders are set to receive a US72¢ interim dividend worth $US3.6 billion, slightly above the US69¢ per share anticipated by analysts surveyed by VUMA. However, this figure falls short of last year's US90¢ interim dividend, marking the lowest half-year payout to shareholders since February 2020.
Last week, BHP had warned that its half-year results would be marred by billions of dollars in impairments and charges. The company's Australian nickel division saw a $US2.5 billion post-tax impairment. In comparison, an additional $US3.2 billion of charges were recorded against Brazil's Samarco iron ore assets, relating to the devastating dam collapse in 2015.