The FTSE 100 is to lose one of its biggest companies after the Anglo-Australian miner BHP announced it would abandon a dual listing in London in favour of shifting its main listing to Sydney.
The move to simplify a complex dual-listing structure will automatically trigger BHP’s removal from the FTSE 100 under UK stock market rules, although the company will continue to have a standard listing on the London Stock Exchange.
Ken MacKenzie, BHP’s chairman, said": “Now is the right time to unify BHP’s corporate structure.”
The decision to streamline its market listings comes after the miner confirmed plans to offload its $13bn (£9.46bn) oil and gas business in a merger with the Australian energy company Woodside.
The deal, which has not yet been agreed, will help BHP focus on mining iron ore, copper and nickel, which are expected to play an increasingly important role in the global economy as the world shifts towards electric cars and battery storage.
“BHP will be simpler and more efficient, with greater flexibility to shape our portfolio for the future,” said MacKenzie. “Our plans announced today will better enable BHP to pursue opportunities in new and existing markets and create value and returns over generations.”
BHP first joined the London market in 2001 after a merger with the South African miner Billiton, which floated on the LSE in 1997. Although the company has an office in Westminster, its global headquarters are in Melbourne, and its Australian shares tend to trade at a premium to its UK-listed stock due to lower tax arrangements there.
BHP’s London share price rose by more than 3% on Tuesday to 2,352p after the company reported a near-doubling in profit for the year following a post-pandemic boom in demand for commodities.
The shares give the company a value of almost £130bn, second only to the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca on the FTSE 100 at £133bn.
BHP said underlying profit climbed to just over $17bn in the year to June, up from $9bn in the year before after making revenues of almost $61bn. The company was able to pay out a total of $15bn while reducing its net debt by almost two-thirds to $4.1bn.
