20th Feb 2025 11:02
(Alliance News) - Anglo American PLC reported on Thursday it swung to an annual loss after a massive write-down of the value of its diamond unit De Beers and Woodsmith polyhalite fertiliser project in the UK.
The London-based miner suffered a pretax loss of USD924 million in 2024, flipped from a profit of USD3.59 billion in 2023.
The diversified mining group posted attributable loss of USD3.07 billion, compared to profit of USD283 million.
It booked "special items and remeasurements" of USD5.36 billion, rising from USD2.78 billion a year prior. This included a USD2.9 billion impairment at De Beers due to tough market conditions and a USD1.6 billion impairment at the Woodsmith polyhalite fertiliser mine in Yorkshire, UK. It also involved restructuring costs of USD300 million linked to divestment or demerger of De Beers as part of Anglo American's "simplification" plan.
Anglo American reported revenue of USD27.29 billion in 2024, down 11% from USD30.65 billion. As a result, underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation fell 15% to USD8.46 billion from USD9.96 billion.
Anglo American declared a final dividend of USD0.22 for 2024, down 46% from USD0.41, dragging the total payout to USD0.64, down 33% from USD0.96.
Basic loss per share was USD2.53, swung from earnings per share of USD0.23.
Anglo American Chief Executive Officer Duncan Wanblad said the miner was fast transforming into a far higher margin and more valuable mining company focused on copper, iron ore and crop nutrients assets.
Anglo American has agreed to sell the coal business. This week, it struck a deal to sell its nickel business to resources firm MMG Singapore Resources Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Melbourne, Australia-based MMG Ltd.
The mining house expects the demerger of Anglo American Platinum Ltd to conclude in June.
On Thursday, Anglo American also said it has signed a memorandum of understanding between its 50.1% owned subsidiary Anglo American Sur SA and the Chilean state-owned mining company Codelco for a framework to implement a joint mine plan for the two companies' adjacent copper mines of Los Bronces and Andina in Chile.
The joint mine plan will increase copper production with minimal additional capital required, it said.
A new operating company, jointly owned and controlled by Anglo American Sur and Codelco, will coordinate the execution of the joint mine plan and optimise the use of the processing capacity of the two operations.
"Copper is at the forefront of our growth ambitions and we already have a clear pathway to more than 1 million tonnes of annual copper production by the early 2030s, a 30% increase," CEO Wanblad said.
Under the terms of the deal, Anglo American and Codelco are working towards concluding due diligence and entering into definitive agreements in the second half of 2025.
The agreements will be subject to a number of conditions, including securing environmental permits for the joint mine plan and obtaining regulatory approvals.
Anglo American shares were 3.6% higher at 2,453.50 pence each on Thursday in London. They were up 3.1% at ZAR571.56 each in Johannesburg.
By Artwell Dlamini, Alliance News reporter
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