The company reported setbacks in its coal and diamond businesses and announced a projected $1.6 billion writedown at a fertilizer mine in the UK as it revealed its first-half earnings results on Thursday.
Anglo has been compelled to expedite its restructuring following the successful defense against BHP's bid, the world's largest miner. The restructuring plan involves exiting diamond mining by spinning off or selling its De Beers unit, separating its platinum business, and selling its coal mines. Additionally, the company has halted the development of the Woodsmith project in Britain.
“We are advancing at pace,” CEO Duncan Wanblad said during a call with reporters. “We are on track to be substantially done with this process by the end of 2025.”
Despite this progress, the company is encountering significant obstacles. A fire and explosion at its flagship coal mine in Australia have complicated the sale of De Beers, while a struggling diamond market continues to deter potential buyers.
The sale of the coal business, viewed internally and by investors as the most straightforward part of the restructuring, was thrown into doubt by the incident at the Grosvenor mine in Australia at the end of last month. Nevertheless, Wanblad expressed confidence that the company would still proceed with selling the entire coal business, including the affected mine, aiming to complete the deal by the end of the year.
“Almost all of the bidders reconfirmed their interest,” Wanblad said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “On the back of that reconfirmation of their interest, we decided to carry on and we will include Grosvenor in the package.”