London loses out: BHP slashes dual nationality – CityAM : CityAM

The FTSE 100 is set to lose its biggest company as miner BHP ditches its Anglo-Australian dual structure in favour of listing on Sydney’s stock market.

The news comes as the blue chip company announced it would exit the petroleum business through a merger with Australia’s Woodside Petroleum, in a deal which will see Woodside shares issued to BHP’s investors.

BHP also reported record financials for the the year ending on June 30. The company pulled in $25.9bn (£18.8bn) in profit from its operations, up from $14.4bn in 2020, and shareholders took home a bumper paycheck of $15bn between them.

BHP Chair, Ken MacKenzie, said that the company is undergoing a period of “rapid change” and growth. He said: “Now is the right time to unify BHP’s corporate structure. BHP will be simpler and more efficient, with greater flexibility to shape our portfolio for the future.”

Now that the company has offloaded the petroleum arm of its business, the company plans to enter the commodities trade. Executives today approved $5.7bn of expenditure in the Jansen Stage 1 potash project which will increase the company’s exposure to future facing commodities.

MacKenzie said that rejigging the structure of the company will provide “greater flexibility to shape our portfolio for the future.”

“Our plans announced today will better enable BHP to pursue opportunities in new and existing markets and create value and returns over generations,” he added.

The company’s share price is up 4.58 per cent in the past 24 hours at the time of writing.

Read more: BHP confirms Woodside merger, after shareholders bag $15bn payday