British mining company Anglo American has reported $1.26bn in profit attributable to shareholders for the first half of this year, a 66% drop resulting from lower prices and “slower than expected recovery” in China.
The company’s profit stood at $3.6bn last year.
Basic underlying earnings per share in H1 2023 were $3.11, a 56% decrease from $1.38 in the prior year.
The group revenue dropped 13% from $15.67bn to $18.11bn over this period.
Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 41% year-on-year to $5.1bn amid a decline in commodity prices and an input cost surge.
Iron ore had the highest-underlying EBITDA contribution at $1.77bn. It was followed by copper, with a share of $1.49bn. The other biggest contributors include platinum group metals ($667m), steelmaking coal ($615m) and De Beers ($347m).
The average market price for the company’s products dropped 19% compared with H1 2022, resulting in a $4.5bn EBITDA reduction.
Platinum group metals recorded a reduction of 29%, with prices of rhodium and palladium tumbling 47% and 29%, respectively. Hard coking coal and iron ore prices declined by 31% and 22%, respectively.
Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad said: “Macro headwinds – principally, weaker prices for our products and input cost inflation – certainly weighed on our first half financial performance. We are on track to deliver on our full-year production guidance, which includes a significant anticipated step-up in volumes in the second half.
“Our focus on operational stability and cost control are our key margin levers and we also expect to deliver annual efficiencies of $0.5bn from across our full range of business support activities.”
