Full Year 2024 South32 Ltd Earnings Call (Australia) Transcript
Key Points
- South32 Ltd (SHTLF) reported a strong financial performance with an underlying EBITDA of USD 1.8 billion and underlying earnings of USD 380 million for FY '24.
- The company lowered its net debt by USD 320 million in H2 FY '24, reflecting a strengthened financial position.
- South32 Ltd (SHTLF) announced a USD 140 million fully franked ordinary dividend and a USD 200 million allocation to an ongoing capital management program through an on-market share buyback.
- Significant milestones were achieved, including the progression of construction at Hermosa's Taylor zinc-lead-silver deposit and the sale of Illawarra Metallurgical Coal for up to USD 1.65 billion.
- The company has a strong near-term production growth outlook, with expected increases in copper and low-carbon aluminum production in the coming years.
- The lost time injury frequency rate increased by 19%, indicating ongoing safety challenges despite improvements in other safety metrics.
- Operations at GEMCO were suspended due to significant damage from tropical cyclone Megan, with a phased return to normal production not expected until FY '26.
- The West Australian Environmental Protection Authority imposed conditions on Worsley that South32 Ltd (SHTLF) finds impractical and inconsistent with other regulations, leading to an appeal process.
- The Cerro Matoso operation faced higher unit costs due to lower grades and ongoing legal disputes with the government around royalty and tax changes.
- The Brazil Aluminum operation reported negative EBITDA and higher-than-expected operating costs, with challenges in ramping up production to nameplate capacity.
Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the South32 FY '24 results investor and analyst call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Graham Kerr, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us today. On the call with me today is our Chief Financial Officer, Sandy Sibenaler. Financial year 2024 was a pivotal year for our business, a year in which we accelerated our portfolio transformation towards commodities critical for a low-carbon future. Before I go into more detail on the milestones we achieved this year, I'd like to talk about safety.
We assess our safety performance through a range of both leading and lagging indicators. During the year, our significant hazard frequency, a leading indicator increased by 34%, indicating a positive reporting culture and increased hazard awareness. At total recall injury frequency for FY '24, a lagging indicator also improved by
| Access to All Earning Calls and Stock Analysis | |
| 30-Year Financial on one screen | |
| All-in-one Stock Screener with unlimited filters | |
| Customizable Stock Dashboard | |
| Real Time Insider Trading Transactions | |
| 8,000+ Institutional investors’ 13F holdings | |
| Powerful Excel Add-in and Google sheets Add-on | |
| All data downloadable | |
| Quick customer support | |
| And much more... |
Trustpilot
We'd love to learn more about your experiences on GuruFocus.com and how we can improve!
Take Survey
