Anglo American Preliminary Results for the year ended 31 December 2023
22 February, 2024
Production increase and strong cost performance outweighed by cyclical lows for PGMs and diamonds
- Quellaveco fully ramped up and produced 319,000 tonnes of copper at unit cost of 111 c/lb
- On track to reduce annual costs by c.$1 billion and capex by c.$1.6 billion over 2024–2026
- Underlying EBITDA* of $10.0 billion, a 31% decrease; 2% volume increase and unit costs held to +4% despite high inflation, more than offset by $5.5 billion revenue impact of PGMs and diamonds at cyclical lows
- Profit attributable to equity shareholders of $0.3 billion
- Net debt* of $10.6 billion: investing in long term growth through the cycle, with leverage at 1.1x
- $1.2 billion total dividend for FY 2023, equal to $0.96 per share, consistent with our 40% payout policy.
Duncan Wanblad, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said: “2023 saw us increase production by 2% and contain the effect of high inflation on our costs, while facing a cyclical downturn in PGMs and diamonds. Against that backdrop, we are reducing annual run rate costs by $1 billion and capital spend by $1.6 billion over the next three years, while also cutting out unprofitable volumes. This value over volume mindset represents our biggest margin lever to enhance returns. We are systematically reviewing our assets and will take further actions as needed to ensure their competitiveness. We have also this week set out the difficult but necessary reconfigurations of our PGMs and Kumba operations to set them up on a far more sustainable footing, building on the recent 25% cost reduction from our consolidation of senior head office roles.
“We continue to make progress on safety, achieving our lowest ever injury rate in 2023. However, I am sad to report that three colleagues died during the year following two accidents, at Los Bronces and Kumba. We extend our deepest condolences to their families, friends and colleagues. We are unconditional in our commitment to safety and working to ensure that every colleague returns home safe and well each day.
“Operationally, we ramped up our flagship Quellaveco operation to full capacity in 2023, producing 319,000 tonnes of copper at a highly competitive unit cost. Minas-Rio set a number of performance records, while Kumba performed well but was limited by third-party rail constraints. At Los Bronces we have reconfigured the mine plan to remove unprofitable production during a phase of lower grades and hard ore, and in Australia we reset production plans to align with new safety protocols and ongoing challenging ground conditions at Moranbah. PGMs and De Beers performed well operationally but faced markets at cyclical lows.
“Underlying EBITDA of $10.0 billion at a 39% Mining EBITDA margin* reflects a 13% lower product basket price and a 4% unit cost increase, partially offset by our 2% volume growth. Net debt increasing to $10.6 billion reflects the growth investments we are making through the cycle in line with our belief in the strong long term fundamentals. Our updated assessment of global GDP growth and consumer demand were the main factors behind our $1.6 billion write-down of our book value of De Beers, principally relating to goodwill. Our $0.5 billion proposed final dividend of $0.41 per share is in line with our 40% payout policy.
“There is no doubt that while the immediate macro picture presents some challenges for our PGMs and diamonds businesses, the demand trends for metals and minerals have rarely looked better. We are focused on reducing complexities and continue to manage our assets, capital and portfolio dynamically and for value. This includes syndicating large greenfield projects for value, as we did with Quellaveco, and as we plan to do for Woodsmith at the right time. We also look to identify opportunities with adjacent assets where there is significant value to be unlocked, while progressing our sequence of organic project options that offer considerable value growth, predominantly in copper, crop nutrients and high quality iron ore.”
Year ended | 31 December 2023 | 31 December 2022 | Change |
---|---|---|---|
US$ million, unless otherwise stated | |||
Revenue | 30,652 | 35,118 | (13)% |
Underlying EBITDA* | 9,958 | 14,495 | (31)% |
Mining EBITDA margin* | 39% | 47% | |
Attributable free cash flow* | (1,385) | 1,585 | (187)% |
Profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company | 283 | 4,514 | (94)% |
Basic underlying earnings per share* ($) | 2.42 | 4.97 | (51)% |
Basic earnings per share ($) | 0.23 | 3.72 | (94)% |
Final dividend per share ($) | 0.41 | 0.74 | (45)% |
Interim dividend per share ($) | 0.55 | 1.24 | (56)% |
Total dividend per share ($) | 0.96 | 1.98 | (52)% |
Group attributable ROCE* | 16% | 30% |
Terms with this symbol * are defined as Alternative Performance Measures (APMs). For more information, refer to page 84.
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