BHP Billiton’s annual profit fell almost 62% on a drop in commodity prices and a slump in demand, the world’s biggest resource company said on Wednesday.
The company’s net profit came in at $5,88-billion in 2008/09, down 61,8% from $15,39-billion in the previous year.
However, BHP Billiton said the outlook had been improved by government responses to the global financial crisis, particularly China’s stimulus packages targeting infrastructure spending.
There was also emerging evidence of demand improving in North America, Europe and Japan.
However, it was ”too early to tell” whether this improvement was driven only by a re-stocking or a combination of re-stocking and real demand, the company said.
Longer-term prospects appeared to be positive, it added.
”Supply may struggle to keep pace with demand in the medium term when growth recovers.”
BHP Billiton said that for the year it had brought in $50,2-billion in revenue — a drop of 15,6% from the previous year.
The company’s underlying profit came in at $10,7-billion, a drop of 30% from 2008.
In spite of this, net operating cash flow was a record $18,8-billion, a 5,9% increase from the previous year.
The company will pay a final dividend of US41 cents for the period ended June 30, making the total for the year US82 cents. — Sapa