The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price will be on watch today after the mining giant released its highly anticipated half year results.
Let's see what the miner reported for the first half of FY 2025.
For the six months ended 31 December, BHP reported an 8% decline in revenue to US$25.2 billion. This was primarily a result of the decline in realised iron ore and steelmaking coal prices, which was partially offset by higher realised copper prices.
BHP revealed that its productivity initiatives and cost discipline, combined with favourable foreign exchange movements, allowed it to mitigate a global inflation rate of ~3.7%, which was predominantly driven by higher labour costs.
As a result, the Big Australian's unit costs were ~3.9% lower across its major assets. Pleasingly, WAIO maintained its position as the lowest cost major iron ore producer globally and Escondida delivered a 12% reduction in unit costs.
Underlying group EBITDA decreased 11% over the prior corresponding period to US$12.4 billion. This is a fraction ahead of the consensus estimate of US$12.35 billion.
Underlying copper EBITDA was up 44% to US$5 billion, whereas underlying iron ore EBTDA was down 26% to US$7.2 billion. The former means that the contribution from copper has increased to 39% of group underlying EBITDA (up from 25% a year ago). This reflects a 10% increase in copper volumes and higher copper prices.
BHP generated free cash flow of US$2.6 billion, which is down 30% on the prior corresponding period. This reflects its lower earnings and a 10% increase in capital and exploration expenditure to US$5.2 billion.
This ultimately led to BHP cutting its fully franked interim dividend by 30.5% to 50 US cents per share. While this is at an eight-year low, it is ahead of the consensus estimate for a 49 US cents per share dividend.
Commenting on the result, BHP's CEO, Mike Henry, said:
BHP reported a strong financial performance for the half-year, underpinned by safe and reliable operations and rigorous cost control. The Group's industry-leading margins and robust cash flow enabled the Board to determine an interim dividend of 50 US cents per share – a total of US$2.5 billion.
The strength of the result demonstrates BHP's operational resilience and its ability to perform through the cycle, with standout production performances in the half from Escondida, WAIO and BMA. WAIO has maintained its lead as the lowest-cost iron ore producer globally, a testament to our ongoing work to drive productivity at our operations.
BHP's overall production guidance for FY 2025 is largely unchanged. It is targeting copper production of 1,845kt to 2,045kt and iron ore production of 255Mt to 265.5Mt.
In addition, its capital and exploration expenditure guidance remains unchanged at ~US$10 billion for FY 2025.
The BHP share price is down 11% over the past 12 months.
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