According to , the businesses bound for South32 generated US$5.04 billion worth of revenue and US$887 million of earnings before interest and tax over the six months to December 31.
The aluminum and manganese divisions are shining particularly bright, as they are expected to contribute $551 million, or just under 7% of BHP鈥檚 first-half earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), , compared with roughly 2.5% a year earlier.
Those businesses, alongside some of world鈥檚 top miners鈥櫬燾oal, manganese, nickel and silver assets, will be part of the , which CEO Andrew Mackenzie expects to generate more value.
鈥淭he benefits exceed the costs of doing this transaction as you would expect, but equally, both companies will be able to generate more productivity than they would together,鈥� Mackenzie reiterated Tuesday.
He added聽the proposed demerger would allow BHP to further improve its underlying payout ratio.
South32鈥檚 head office will be in Perth, with a regional head office and global聽shared services centre located in Johannesburg. While it would be an聽Australian incorporated company, South32 is intended to聽have a primary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange, a secondary listing on the聽Johannesburg Stock Exchange and a standard listing in London.
All of BHP shareholders will receive shares in South32 if the miner鈥檚 board and shareholders approve the demerger over the next four months.