Mining giant BHP has blamed lower gas prices in the United States for an impairment charge on the value of its shale and nickel assets in Australia.
In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, BHP said it had taken an impairment charge before tax of $US2.84 billion.
“The development of these assets is expected to create substantial, long term shareholder value,” the company said.
“While we have responded appropriately to the changed market conditions today’s impairment is clearly disappointing,” added chief executive Marius Kloppers.
COMMENTS
SmartCompany is committed to hosting lively discussions. Help us keep the conversation useful, interesting and welcoming. We aim to publish comments quickly in the interest of promoting robust conversation, but we’re a small team and we deploy filters to protect against legal risk. Occasionally your comment may be held up while it is being reviewed, but we’re working as fast as we can to keep the conversation rolling.
The SmartCompany comment section is members-only content. Please subscribe to leave a comment.
The SmartCompany comment section is members-only content. Please login to leave a comment.