MarketWatch writes article about BHP Billiton posts record 1H loss, cuts dividend:
By Rhiannon Hoyle
Published: Feb 22, 2016 4:29 p.m. ET
By
RhiannonHoyle
SYDNEY–Mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd. said it made a $5.67 billion
first-half loss and scrapped its long held pledge to keep its dividend
steady or rising, a move it had dismissed as unlikely just six months
ago.
In the clearest sign yet of the deteriorating backdrop for the global
mining industry, BHP — the world’s largest mining company by market
value — bowed to pressure from ratings agencies and some of its own
investors by slashing its midyear dividend by 74%, a move it said would
safeguard its balance sheet.
As recently as last August, BHP’s Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie had
told analysts “over my dead body sounds a little strong, but it is
almost right” when asked whether the company would contemplate cutting
its dividend.
BHP’s decision now comes after what Chairman Jac Nasser has called “one
of the most difficult” years in the company’s 130-year history, during
which it suffered a disastrous flood at a jointly owned iron-ore mine
in Brazil, and watched its share price fall to a more-than decade low.
MarketWatch Article Source Here.