Anglo 1H profit falls by a quarter, debt down to $11.7bn as plan kicks in

(Bloomberg) — Anglo American Plc, which is seeking to turnaround its business to withstand a collapse in commodity prices, said first-half profit dropped 23 percent. Its net debt declined to $11.7 billion.

Underlying earnings for the six months through June fell to $698 million from $904 million a year earlier, the London-based company said in a statement Thursday. Excluding some items, earnings per share declined to 54 cents, beating the 26-cent average of six analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Anglo wants to cut debt to below $10 billion by year-end, from $12.9 billion in December, to reassure investors it can survive lower raw-material prices. The century-old firm plans to sell more than half of its mines and exit iron ore and coal to focus on top assets, diamonds, platinum and copper. The stock has more than doubled this year and is the best performer in the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index.

Anglo, once South Africa’s biggest company, has said it will raise more than $3 billion from asset sales this year to help meet the debt target. In April, the miner agreed to sell its Brazilian niobium and phosphate unit to China Molybdenum Co. for $1.5 billion and is in talks to offload coal mines in Australia.

The shares closed at 799.2 pence in London on Wednesday and reached a one-year high on July 13. The stock slid 75 percent last year as commodity prices tumbled by the most since 2008 amid a slowdown in China, the top consumer.

The company reported a first-half net loss of $813 million, while sales fell 20 percent to $10.6 billion.