BHP has reported an attributable profit of $7.89bn for the company’s financial year ended 30 June 2024, a 39% decrease from $12.92bn in the previous financial year.
This decline was primarily attributed to an after-tax loss of $5.8bn, driven by a $2.7bn impairment of Western Australia Nickel and a $3.8bn charge related to the Samarco dam failure.
In addition, the loss was partially offset by a post-tax gain of $700m from the disposal of the Blackwater and Daunia metallurgical coal mines in Australia.
The Australian mining and metals company’s revenue for FY24 was $55.66bn, an increase of 3% compared to the revenue of $53.82bn in FY23.
BHP’s growth in revenue is driven by higher realised prices in iron ore and copper, with sales volumes increasing by 3% and 5%, respectively.
Its basic earnings per share for FY24 was $1.6, a decrease of 39% compared to that of the prior financial year.
For FY24, BHP’s profit from operations was $17.53bn, which is 24% low compared to $23bn in FY23.
The company’s net operating cash flow increased 11% to $20.66bn in the reported financial year. In the prior financial year, BHP’s net operating cash flow was $18.7bn.
BHP’s underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) for FY24 were reported at $29bn, up from $27.95bn in FY23, representing a 4% increase.
The company’s production totalled 1,865 kilotonnes (kt) of copper, 260 million tonnes (mt) of iron ore, 22.3mt of steelmaking coal, 15.4mt of energy coal, and 81.6kt of nickel in FY24.
BHP aims to increase its copper production by an additional 4% in FY25.
BHP CEO Mike Henry said: “BHP delivered a strong set of results in FY24 on the back of solid operational performance. We delivered record volumes at Western Australia Iron Ore, where we extended our lead as the world’s lowest cost iron ore producer.
“Across our global copper assets, we grew overall copper volumes by 9% for the second consecutive year and expect to deliver a further 4% in FY25.”