The curtain has risen on Anglo American’s (LSE:AAL) latest financial performance. As the dust settles on the latest quarterly earnings report, investors are left to decode a complex narrative of restructuring and challenges. After a year where the shares moved by only -0.41%, I’ve been wondering what’s next for the Anglo American share price.
Earnings
In a plot twist worthy of a financial thriller, Anglo American Platinum, the company’s majority-owned subsidiary and the world’s largest platinum-metals producer, delivered a stark reality check. Earnings took a nosedive, plummeting between 15% and 25% compared to the same period last year. The culprit? A brutal 24% plunge in prices for select metals, with palladium and rhodium prices taking particularly dramatic tumbles of 34% and 49%, respectively.
Yet, like any good protagonist, the company isn’t going down without a fight. A 9% uptick in sales volumes, courtesy of higher refined production, provided a silver lining to this cloudy forecast. However, it wasn’t enough to offset the overall 2% dip in production to 921,000 ounces over the six-month period.
However, the miner announced it had delivered impressive cost savings in line with its ambitious plan to slash expenses by $500m this year. But the big question for me is whether this will be enough.
Restructuring
This financial tightrope walk comes against the backdrop of some daring restructuring plans. The mining behemoth shed its coal, platinum, nickel, and diamond operations as demand from the key Chinese market slowed. What management hope will emerge is a leaner company, laser-focused on two areas of expertise – copper mines that had rival BHP salivating, and the intriguing Woodsmith fertiliser project.
Meanwhile, copper — the firm’s new golden child — is keeping everyone on their toes. After a meteoric rise, copper prices have started to show signs of vertigo, inching backwards. It’s a reminder that in the mining world, as elsewhere, what goes up must come down — eventually.
Prior to the earnings release, Anglo American was trading at a decent 12.4% below its estimated fair value, based on a discounted cash flow (DCF) calculation. This is backed up with an impressive forecast of 32% annual earnings growth for the next five years. But the latest results have thrown a spanner in the works. Profit margins have taken a nosedive from last year’s 12.9% to a nail-biting 0.9%.
And let’s not forget the dividend — that perennial crowd-pleaser. At 2.77%, and with a payout ratio of 412%, it’s looking about as stable as a house of cards in a windstorm, neither covered by earnings nor free cash flows.
What’s next?
Despite this financial obstacle course, Anglo American’s share price is still riding high – a full 20% above its pre-BHP courtship levels. It seems the market likes what it sees from management.
So as investors digest these results, all eyes remain fixed on the Anglo American share price. Will its restructuring gambit pay off? Can it navigate the treacherous waters of commodity price volatility? As the demand for resources continues on its cycle, I think there is potential here, but not enough for me to be interested in it long term. I’ll be holding off for now.
This post was originally published on Motley Fool
