Anglo American to Maintain Presence in South Africa Despite Restructuring

Anglo American has confirmed it will retain a corporate office in South Africa and continue to engage in local interests, even as the company's only remaining South African assets post-restructuring will be Kumba Iron Ore and its manganese business. This announcement comes from CEO Duncan Wanblad following the group's first financial results since fending off a takeover bid from Australian rival BHP in May.

The group's core businesses in copper and iron ore have shown strong margins, helping to mitigate the impact of weak prices for platinum group metals and diamonds. However, Anglo American posted a $672 million loss for the six months to June, primarily due to a writedown of its controversial UK crop nutrient project, Woodsmith, where development has been slowed to preserve the company's balance sheet.

Wanblad confirmed that Anglo American is on track to complete its portfolio streamlining by the end of 2025. This includes unbundling its stake in Anglo Platinum to shareholders, selling its steelmaking coal and nickel businesses, and either selling or unbundling its 85% stake in diamond giant De Beers. The company has already achieved $500 million in cost savings, with an additional $800 million expected as it completes its 'portfolio transformation' to focus on copper, iron ore, and fertilizer.

The restructuring plan was announced amidst the battle with BHP, which had required Anglo to unbundle Kumba and Anglo Platinum as conditions for the deal, and had also suggested reviewing the De Beers stake. Critics accused BHP of attempting to reduce Anglo's exposure to South Africa, similar to BHP's own actions over the past decade.

Wanblad, however, emphasized that Anglo American is not leaving South Africa. "I’m not pessimistic about the presence of Anglo American in South Africa, just realistic about the fact that it will, of course, be smaller than it is today," he said. "We’re not leaving South Africa at all… and to the extent that there are other opportunities for us within South Africa, we want to be able to exploit those and we will still have the representation here that allows us to do that in time."

Wanblad also noted that government officials understand the rationale behind the restructuring, which aims to unlock value and improve Anglo’s market rating, which has lagged behind peers for over a decade. Although the company's share price has fallen since May, Wanblad expressed optimism that Anglo would be rerated closer to the completion of the restructuring.

Regarding the manganese joint venture in South Africa, Wanblad mentioned that it is performing well but is not a priority focus in the current restructuring efforts. The main focus remains on divesting and demerging the four businesses discussed in May, with De Beers expected to be the last of these divestments. The decision on whether De Beers will be a demerger or a trade sale has not yet been made and will not be finalized before the end of this year.

Anglo’s decision to slow down the Woodsmith project resulted in a $1.6 billion impairment. The group is seeking a partner for the project, with potential production starting in 2030.

For the first half of the year, Anglo’s revenue dropped 8% to $14.4 billion, and underlying EBITDA was down 3% at $5 billion, reflecting a 10% decrease in the price of the group’s basket of products.