BHP Billiton (BLT) Share Price

BLT - BHP Billiton PLC Investor Summary

BHP Billiton is one of the world's largest mining companies and is listed on the London Stock Exchange where it is a member of the FTSE 100 share price index. The company as it currently exists was created in 2001 following the merger of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company from Australia and Billiton, a UK concern. Prior to the merger, the Broken Hill Proprietary Company primarily had interests in steel manufacturing, petroleum exploration as well as copper and diamond extraction. Billiton's interests were mainly in tin, lead, aluminium, nickel, coal and titanium minerals.

The company has since continued to expand its operations through merger and acquisition and through rationalisation of its markets. In 2005, BHP Billiton paid over $7 billion (US) for WMC Resources based in Australia and operating in nickel mining and processing, fertilizer production, and copper and uranium exploration. The company currently operates in Algeria, Angola, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Guinea, Indonesia, Iraq, Mozambique, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, the UK and the USA. The firm was also in talks to take over the Rio Tinto Group in late 2008 until global economic conditions led to a change of strategy. Since this, the company has announced the closures of some facilities and some staff reductions to improve trading conditions in the expected economic climate. The company had revenues of almost $60 billion (US) in 2008 with a profit of over $15 billion and currently employs over 30,000 people.