Anglo American posts $1.9 billion loss, cuts dividend, as restructuring continues

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By Clara Denina and Nqobile Dludla Global miner Anglo American LSE:AAL on Thursday reported a $1.9 billion loss in the first half, reduced its dividend, and said restructuring efforts continued, including divestment of its coal and ailing diamond units.The London-listed miner has been selling or spinning off non-core assets to focus on copper and iron ore since bigger rival BHP's ASX:BHP failed attempt to take it over last year.Anglo demerged its platinum business in May and on Thursday said its nickel and steelmaking coal assets were discontinued operations, with their sale agreed but not yet completed.The company declared an interim dividend of $0.07 per share, down from $0.42 a year earlier, reflecting negative earnings at the platinum and coal divisions, and no contribution from diamond unit De Beers.It posted a $1.9 billion loss for the first half, about triple its $672 million loss in the same period a year ago. Core earnings or EBITDA of $3 billion for its copper, iron ore and De Beers businesses was above the $2.9 billion expected by analysts.Anglo American, which expects copper to make up more than 60% of EBITDA post-restructuring, joined rival diversified miners Rio Tinto LSE:RIO, ASX:RIO and BHP ASX:BHP in reporting lower results, partly as global trade tensions have weighed on prices of most industrial metals this year. CEO Duncan Wanblad said he expects "some material inflationary increases in the cost of goods over time," adding that the direct impact of rising tariffs for Anglo was limited. Anglo's shares were down 4.6% in mid-morning trading.DE BEERSWanblad said a formal process for the sale of De Beers, although complicated by a slump in global diamond prices, was advancing, with the second round of bids from interested buyers expected in the next month. De Beers's spin-off and eventual listing is the other option for Anglo American, which values it at $4.9 billion after recording $3.5 billion in impairments over the past two years."A trade sale would be the preferred option, but the trade sale has to happen to the right group of buyers... work is carrying on in parallel in terms of setting up the business for an IPO at the right time," Wanblad said on Thursday.Net debt stood at $10.8 billion, below analysts' consensus estimate of $11.6 billion. Anglo expects this to come down once it starts to receive the proceeds from the nickel and coa...

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