BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call February 19, 2024 6:30 PM ET
Company Participants
Mike Henry - CEO
David Lamont - CFO
Conference Call Participants
Mike Henry
Hello and thank you for joining us to hear about BHP’s results for the First Half of the 2024 Financial Year. I’m joined by our Chief Financial Officer, David Lamont.
We are pleased to present a set of results today that underscore the strength of our strategy and the quality of our execution. I must start however by acknowledging the loss of Luke O’Brien, a co-worker from one of our contracting partners, who was fatally injured while on the job at Saraji in January of this year. The safety and well-being of our people is the priority. And it simply isn’t acceptable if anyone is being seriously injured, or worse, while at work, and we are redoubling our ongoing efforts to reinforce our culture and controls when it comes to safety.
Operationally, in the December 2023 half, we delivered a 7% increase in copper production. We maintained strong momentum at Western Australia Iron Ore and we remain on track to meet our original full year production and unit cost guidance across all bar one of our assets. We progressed important portfolio changes in line with our strategy, including, successfully integrating our new copper asset in South Australia. Sanctioning additional investment in potash at Jansen in Canada and further focusing our metallurgical coal portfolio on higher quality premium coals through the divestment of Blackwater and Daunia.
The period also had its challenges, with exceptional items relating to Western Australia Nickel and Samarco offsetting an otherwise solid operational performance and overall healthy commodity prices. Our strong underlying results enabled us to determine an interim dividend of $0.72 per share. In addition to delivering strong shareholder value, we’ve also advanced our social value initiatives.
We’ve taken further steps towards our decarbonization ambitions, both at our operations and in our value chain. For example, we’ve just signed a framework agreement with Rio Tinto and BlueScope to investigate the development of a pilot ironmaking electric smelting furnace using Pilbara iron ores and renewable power. Paired with direct reduced iron, this could open a pathway to a low carbon alternative to the conventional blast furnace, which could reduce steelmaking emissions intensity by around 80%.
We continue to work towards a more inclusive and more diverse workplace, which helps foster good business outcomes and contributes to broader economic performance. Since 2016, we have more than doubled female employment to over 36% of our employee workforce, and women now make up more than 40% of our Minerals Americas team and half of my executive leadership team.