Bhp soars to all-time high with accounts above expectations thanks to copper boost

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Bhp dragged the Australian Stock Exchange, closing at an all-time high after announcing better-than-expected half-year accounts on the back of copper. The stock of the biggest listed mining company in the world closed at a record high of A$52.74, up 4.73 per cent. Bhp Group reported net profit attributable to shareholders of A$5.64 billion for the six months ended 31 December (the first of the 2026 financial year), up 27.6 per cent from A$4.42 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose to USD 1.108 from USD 0.869. Group sales reached USD 27.90 billion, up 10.8% from USD 25.18 billion in the previous year. Adjusted Ebitda rose 25% to USD 15.5 billion, with a margin of 58%, and profit improved byover 20% to USD 6.2 billion. The board of directors declared asemi-annual dividend of USD 0.73 per share, up from USD 0.50 a year earlier, with a payout of 60 per cent.

As Bhp CEO Mike Henry pointed out, copper "made the largest contribution to group profit", accounting for 51% of underlying EBITDA. "We have increased copper production by about 30 per cent over the last four years, which has positioned us well ahead of the strengthening of the copper market that we anticipated," the CEO pointed out. The group "is the world's largest copper producer, and thanks to the strong performance of the Escondida mine and the solid contribution of the other mines in Chile and Australia, we have increased copper production guidance for the 2026 financial year to 1.9-2 Mt. This allows us to maximise the earnings growth that comes from the recent surge in copper and also gold," Bhp's number one added. As for the outlook, the group said it was optimistic about the economic environment which is supportive of the major commodities. Bhp also announced a major advance silver sale agreement with Wheaton Precious Metals, a company specialising in precious metals streaming. The Australian group will receive an upfront payment of $4.3 billion. Bhp will deliver to Wheaton a quantity of silver calculated based on its share of silver production from the Antamina mine in Peru, in which the mining group holds a 33.75 per cent stake.