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RNS Number : 6597I Anglo American PLC 19 April 2022
19 April 2022
AGM 2022 - Address to shareholders
Anglo American plc held its Annual General Meeting for shareholders in London
today. The following remarks were made by the Chairman and the Chief
Executive.
Stuart Chambers, Chairman of Anglo American plc, made the following remarks:
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Anglo American's 2022
Annual General Meeting. After two years of Covid-19 restrictions, it is great
to welcome shareholders here in person. Notice of the meeting was sent to
shareholders on 17 March 2022, and a quorum is present. I therefore declare
this meeting duly constituted. Have I your permission to take the Notice of
Meeting as read and formally propose the resolutions set out in the Notice?
Thank you
Before I introduce the rest of the Board, I would like to thank non-executive
director and our Remuneration Committee chair Anne Stevens, and our senior
independent director and Audit Committee chair Byron Grote, who will both step
down from the Board at the conclusion of the AGM, having each served for nine
years. On behalf of the Board, I thank them for their tireless commitment and
extensive contributions to the Board during their respective tenures.
I will now introduce the rest of your Board, all of whom are present. Starting
on my left is Elisabeth Brinton, Hixonia Nyasulu, Marcelo Bastos and Ian
Ashby, four of our non-executive directors. Next to Ian is Stephen Pearce, our
finance director and our chief executive, Mark Cutifani. To my immediate
right is Richard Price, the Group General Counsel and Company Secretary and
then Byron Grote. Next to Byron is Hilary Maxson, who takes over as chair of
the Audit Committee, following Byron Grote's retirement. Next to Hilary is
Anne Stevens, and then Ian Tyler, who takes over as chair of the Remuneration
Committee, following Anne's retirement. Then Tony O'Neill, our technical
director and finally, non-executive director Nonkululeko Nyembezi.
Ian Tyler, who joined us on 1 January this year, is the newest member of the
Board. Ian is British and brings to Anglo American a wealth of boardroom and
financial experience spanning a number of industrial sectors, including as
chair of remuneration and audit committees. The Board has appointed Ian as the
Senior Independent Director, following Byron Grote's retirement.
I am also pleased to introduce our Chief Executive designate Duncan Wanblad -
Duncan is sitting in the front row of the room and I will say a little more
about him shortly.
Ensuring we have the right mix of skills, experience and diversity at Board
level that reflects the breadth of our business is critical to effective
governance. To that end, our Board appointments are sequenced to reflect the
areas of expertise that we feel we need as we look ahead at the trajectory of
the business.
You can find the biographies for each director in our Notice of AGM and I
trust that you agree with me in noting the high calibre and diverse nature of
our Board members. Later, I will be asking you to vote on the election of Ian
and Duncan for the first time and the usual annual re-election of myself and
all other directors.
Now, before I ask Mark Cutifani, our chief executive, to give you an overview
of recent performance, allow me to share some of my perspectives on your
company, Anglo American.
In 2021, despite the ongoing disruptions of the Covid pandemic to our
operations, Anglo American performed strongly, operating at near capacity,
keeping our major capital projects on track, and our customers supplied. At
the same time, we made further headway in transitioning our portfolio towards
future-enabling products for a low carbon world.
Starting, as always, with safety. In terms of fatal incidents, we achieved our
best-ever safety performance in 2021, though, sadly, we lost one of our
employees at our Quellaveco project in Peru. We also saw the key indicator of
the injury rate plateau after many years of improvement, highlighting that we
still have work to do. Our Elimination of Fatalities programme, is making a
real difference, and we are putting increased resources behind that. Through
this work, we are gaining a better understanding of how serious incidents
happen, helping us to prioritise actions to eliminate risk at the workplace,
as well as travelling to and from work. All of that said, we have not got off
to a good start in 2022. Tragically, we have lost two colleagues this year,
one at our Moranbah North met coal mine in Australia, and secondly a colleague
who was injured last November at our PGMs business in South Africa and who
died a couple of weeks ago. Our work is far from done.
Turning to climate change, there is no doubt that this is the defining
challenge of our time; it will affect everyone, everywhere. Through our
Sustainable Mining Plan, which is aligned to the UN's Sustainable Development
Goals, Anglo American is committed to playing its part in addressing it,
across our value chain. By 2030, we aim to reduce Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions
by 30% against a 2016 baseline; we will improve energy efficiency by 30% and
achieve a 50% net reduction in freshwater abstraction; and deliver
net-positive impacts in biodiversity wherever we operate. We have also added a
commitment that by 2040 we will be carbon neutral across our operations, and
we will aim to have reduced our Scope 3 emissions by 50%.
Turning to our portfolio. Our assets are increasingly focused on the metals
and minerals that will enable both the move to a lower carbon economy and
meeting demand from a growing and more discerning consumer population.
Quellaveco, our new copper mine in Peru, is our biggest current project, and
is on schedule and on budget for commissioning this year and will boost our
supply of one of the most needed energy transition metals. Here in the UK,
construction of the large Woodsmith fertiliser project is moving along while
we finalise its design configuration to align with our long term commercial
ambitions for the project. And, following the demerger of our thermal coal
operations in South Africa and the sale of our minority shareholding in
Cerrejón in Colombia, we have completed our exit from thermal coal mining
operations.
Anglo American continues to generate healthy cash flows that we are using to
re-invest in the business and deliver sustainable cash returns to you, our
shareholders. For 2021, the combination of our operations performing well and
strong demand and high prices for many of our products as economies recovered
from the widespread disruption of Covid, led to a record financial
performance.
The Board has recommended a final dividend of $1.18 per share, in line with
our 40% of underlying earnings payout policy, and a further special dividend
of 50 cents per share, bringing total dividends for the year, including the
special dividend paid in September, to $4.19 per share. Combined with our $1
billion share buyback programme, our total cash return to shareholders in
respect of 2021 was $6.2 billion. Total Shareholder Return for the year was
35%, second amongst the UK-listed mining majors, and almost double the FTSE
100 Index's 18%.
Anglo American has one of the industry's most compelling organic growth
profiles, with considerable optionality. We are anticipating volume growth of
around 35% over the coming decade - across the diversified mix of metals and
minerals required for a transition to a cleaner, greener world.
Finally, on behalf of the Board, and everyone who works for Anglo American, I
wish to pay tribute to Mark Cutifani, and to welcome Duncan Wanblad as our
incoming chief executive.
Mark will step down as chief executive at the conclusion of this meeting,
after nine years at the helm. He is a truly inspiring and authentic leader who
has led his executive team with distinction through some extremely challenging
times to transform Anglo American's performance and prospects. His legacy in
the areas of safety, the power of engagement, business remodelling, and his
determination to create a very different and sustainable future for mining,
enabled through technology, deserve particular recognition.
And, finally, welcome, Duncan - the Board's unanimous choice to succeed Mark.
Duncan brings 30 years of international mining experience and his deep
understanding of Anglo American, its culture and its context. He has been
integral to the reshaping of the company alongside Mark and is uniquely
qualified to take Anglo American forward.
Mark Cutifani, Chief Executive of Anglo American plc, made the following
remarks:
Thank you, Stuart, and good afternoon, everyone.
Looking back over my long career in this incredible industry, it is clear that
mining has never been more essential to the future of our planet and society
so that we can deliver a low-carbon world, feed ourselves and lift living
standards for all. At the same time, the demands on, and expectations of, the
industry to act responsibly have never been higher. That responsibility
includes supporting a 'Just Transition', helping to create environmentally and
socially sustainable jobs that are consistent with addressing the most
pressing issue of climate change and broader environmental objectives related
to water and other issues.
Anglo American, your company, is facing up to these challenges through our
determination to be a technological leader in the industry; through the
commitments to environmental stewardship and community prosperity embraced in
our Sustainable Mining Plan (SMP); and through the significant reshaping of
our portfolio towards what we term 'future-enabling' products aligned with
evolving societal demands and expectations.
On safety, health and environment we continue to focus on our improvement
journey…our results are some of our best outcomes but there remains a lot of
work to do to get to zero and stay there.
Safety always comes first - and one of the great changes that I have been most
impressed with at Anglo American is that, today, we all look out for one
another. We are working as a team - and nothing upsets the team more than when
we have a fatal or serious incident. This represents a huge shift in mindset
compared to a decade or so ago. And we don't simply talk about zero harm, we
understand our responsibilities in helping every individual be healthier for
having worked at Anglo American.
Although we continue to make progress in reducing fatal incidents, sadly,
however, we still lost one colleague in a vehicle incident at our major
project in Peru. Our total injury frequency rate also tracked up marginally,
reflecting the changed operating configurations necessary to manage Covid-19
that tend to disrupt planned work routines. Our Elimination of Fatalities
Taskforce, however, has supported a 93% reduction in fatal incidents since
2013 and we have extended this work to our non-managed joint venture
operations. We are making real progress, though we were cruelly reminded of
how far we still have to go when only last month a contractor died in our Met
Coal business in Australia and we lost a colleague very recently who was
injured last November in one of our PGMs plants in South Africa, as the
Chairman just said. For us, every loss of life is a tragedy, and we will
continue to mobilise our resources to support our zero harm imperative.
We are also looking beyond physical safety, working towards everyone feeling
safer psychologically, healthier and with a better life having worked for
Anglo American. Our work to tackle gender-based and domestic violence
exemplifies our approach.
On health and environmental incidents, again great progress, but we are not at
zero yet.
Covid-19, too, hasn't gone away. While we start to learn to live with Covid,
we are still seeing its ongoing effects on our operations in what has been a
tough first quarter. Our absenteeism from Covid related infections peaked in
January, as the Omicron variant was more infectious, but thankfully less
severe than previous strains. As a consequence, absenteeism hit almost 10%
in January with 8,000 cases reported across the company. Other impacts were
related to stretched supply chains but also due to residual impacts on our
maintenance schedules, for example - which can take some time to catch up. As
we have said for some time now, we have been operating at around 95% capacity,
and our first quarter production has been further impacted by the higher
infection rates. The good news is these rates are dropping quickly and so
our target to return to 100% production will continue through the second
quarter.
Of course, Covid has affected people's lives in very real ways. Across our
business, we have lost more than 200 colleagues to the virus. We continue to
support our employees and our communities through our global WeCare response
programme, which is focused on protecting physical and mental health and
well-being, and on lives and livelihoods. As vaccines were approved
progressively during 2021, we volunteered $30 million of support towards their
roll-out across our Group. Our own efforts to vaccinate our workforce in South
Africa using our established health infrastructure, and in support of the
government's vaccination programme, have proven vital in boosting protection
from the virus. We have also provided significant monetary and other support
to accelerate vaccination rates, including in communities around our mines.
Our Purpose is to re-imagine mining to improve people's lives, and I am proud
that we have been able to live up to it and perhaps go beyond it by helping to
save people's lives.
Stuart has taken you through the dividend, but I would like to briefly mention
some of the other financials that put us in such a strong position to fund
those shareholder returns. In a year of two distinct halves, we recorded
strong demand and high prices for many of our products as economies recouped
lost ground, spurred by stimulus measures.
Copper and the platinum group metals and premium quality iron ore for greener
steelmaking, supported by an improving market for diamonds, all contributed to
a record financial performance, with underlying EBITDA of $20.6 billion. We
generated attributable free cash flow of $7.8 billion, due largely to a strong
price environment in the first half. Our return on capital employed of 43% was
well above our targeted 15% through-the-cycle return hurdle rate, as it should
be in times of strong pricing. We are resolutely committed to
capital-allocation discipline and to maintaining a strong and flexible balance
sheet. At the end of 2021, net debt of $3.8 billion, or just 0.2 times
underlying EBITDA, reflects the growth investments we are making and our
commitment to return excess cash to shareholders.
Operationally, we continue to deliver significant improvements through our
Organisation and Operating models raising efficiency and productivity - and
through the deployment of FutureSmart Mining™. In 2021, improved operational
performances, at PGMs, De Beers and Kumba (Iron Ore) in particular,
contributed to a 5% volume increase, supporting a 13-point increase of our
mining EBITDA margin.
By way of illustration of that improvement journey, today, we are at a far
better position on the cost curve than we were in 2013. Then, we were the
highest cost producer across our aggregated commodity mix, compared to our 4
major industry peers. The light blue column for Anglo American shows our
average competitive cost position at the 49th percentile. By the end of 2021,
we had moved to the 29th percentile…while growing and positioning for longer
term top line growth. And given the diversity of our product mix, the quality
of our assets and our increased weighting towards future-enabling products -
we are in good shape.
This focus on continuous improvement is as much about improving returns as it
is to protect the business from internal and external headwinds like
increasing mine depths and global inflation. Since 2013, we have delivered
$4.6 billion of annual underlying EBITDA improvement, and we have increased
our near-term performance improvement target to $3.5‒$4.5 billion for the
six-year period to 2023 as we accelerate the delivery of our P101 business
improvement, our technology programmes, and bring our organic growth projects
on stream.
We remain absolutely committed to capital-allocation discipline and
maintaining a strong and flexible balance sheet. It is always about balance as
we invest in sustaining and improving our existing assets for earnings
reliability and near term growth, repositioning the portfolio to improve
returns for the longer term, and returning cash to shareholders on a
sustainable basis. In our business it is about consistent and sustainable
Capital Returns and Returns of Capital to our shareholders.
Turning to our broader strategy, let me touch on our three strategic pillars,
beginning with our Portfolio.
Anglo American offers an increasingly differentiated investment proposition
centred around sustainable performance and high-quality, responsible organic
growth. First and foremost is our Quellaveco copper project in Peru, which I
was determined to see in a ready-to-go state before I stepped down. I'm
pleased to say that this tier 1, long-life and fully digital mine is about to
come on stream - on time, and on budget, adding 10% to our total production as
a group.
Today, around 85% of our output and investment capital is focused on what we
call future-enabling products - with thermal coal moving out of the portfolio,
replaced by growth in Copper, PGMs and Crop Nutrients. Our products are
aligned with demand from an increasingly electrified and connected world: a
greener world of renewable energy, the emerging hydrogen economy and tighter
emissions standards; more sustainable crop production; cleaner steel; and the
infrastructure and consumer demands of a fast-growing population.
Secondly, Innovation. Our industry is on the cusp of significant change, led
by the accelerating pace of technological innovation. Digitalisation,
artificial intelligence and automation are all opening up opportunities for
safer, more productive, and environmentally and socially sustainable mining,
embodied through our FutureSmart Mining™ programme. This is a future where
we eliminate workplace fatalities; we radically improve our productivities and
the way we use land, energy and water; and where our communities thrive - with
better health, education and employment - long beyond the life of any mine.
FutureSmart Mining™ brings together step-change innovations in technology
and digitalisation to drive targeted safety and sustainability outcomes set
out in our Sustainable Mining Plan and providing the foundations for ongoing
business improvements.
As your Chairman mentioned, our Sustainable Mining Plan focuses on our three
pillars of Healthy Environment, Thriving Communities, and Trusted Corporate
Leader. Our environmental commitments include reaching carbon neutrality
across our operations by 2040, and we have added our ambition to reduce our
Scope 3 emissions by 50% in the same timeframe.
For those emissions that we can exercise control over, you may have seen our
announcement last month that we are partnering with EDF Renewables to secure
100% renewable energy supply for our South Africa operations, in addition to
the 100% renewable electricity supply we have already secured across our South
American operations, and we expect our first hydrogen haul truck will be
piloted at Mogalakwena in South Africa next month.
Thirdly, many of you have heard me say "people are the business". People are
central to everything we do, and workforce engagement is a priority for every
leader at Anglo American. We are striving to create safe, inclusive, and
diverse workplaces that encourage high performance and innovative thinking,
and where each individual is motivated to give of their best.
At Anglo American, we have a distinct Organisation Model which has made our
work safer and more productive, enabling continuous improvement through
connection and synchronisation of work. It is our people who deliver our
performance every day and who are our best ambassadors, engaging with each
other and our range of stakeholders, and supporting our ambitions.
I am pleased to report, too, that we are making good progress in addressing
what has long been a challenge in what has long been a male-dominated industry
- gender diversity. We continue to make advances against our gender
representation goal of 33% female representation by 2023 at all management
levels. At year-end, the proportion of women at that level had reached 31%, a
15% improvement in just one year.
It has been a great privilege to lead this great company and our people over
the past nine years. I am grateful to have had the unwavering support of
Stuart and the Board for what I and your management team have been seeking to
accomplish. I also wish to thank the Board for their guidance, the executive
team for their tenacity and friendship, every one of our employees for their
sheer resilience, and our shareholders, along with all other stakeholders for
their spirit of engagement.
Together, we have transformed Anglo American's competitive position and led
the way towards a very different future for mining - a safer, smarter, more
sustainable future that delivers enduring value for all our stakeholders. By
delivering on our promises, we have established the credibility and
capabilities that are the foundation for Anglo American's next phase of
growth. I can think of no better leader than Duncan Wanblad to pick up the
baton and pursue the many opportunities that lie ahead for our business.
And now, it's time for me to say farewell. It's been quite a ride.
Thank you for all your support, I wish you all well in your future endeavours
and please stay safe. Thank you.
Following a number of questions from shareholders and their proxies, Stuart
Chambers closed the meeting, by adding:
The final results will be announced to the stock exchanges tomorrow and will
be published on our website. Details of the proxy votes already received for
each resolution are shown on the screen behind me.
I am pleased to say that we have received strong support for all 23
resolutions based on the shares already voted that represent approximately 70%
of the share capital.
Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the business of this meeting. Thank you
all for your attendance today and I now declare the meeting closed.
Check against delivery.
For further information, please contact:
Media Investors
UK UK
James Wyatt-Tilby Paul Galloway
james.wyatt-tilby@angloamerican.com paul.galloway@angloamerican.com (mailto:paul.galloway@angloamerican.com)
(mailto:james.wyatt-tilby@angloamerican.com)
Tel: +44 (0)20 7968 8718
Tel: +44 (0)20 7968 8759
Emma Waterworth
Marcelo Esquivel Emma.waterworth@angloamerican.com (mailto:Emma.waterworth@angloamerican.com)
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7968 8574
marcelo.esquivel@angloamerican.com (mailto:marcelo.esquivel@angloamerican.com)
Tel: +44 (0)20 7968 8891
Juliet Newth
juliet (mailto:juliet.newth@angloamerican.com) .newth@angloamerican.com
Katie Ryall (mailto:juliet.newth@angloamerican.com)
katie.ryall@angloamerican.com (mailto:katie.ryall@angloamerican.com) Tel: +44 (0)20 7968 8830
Tel: +44 (0)20 7968 8935
Michelle Jarman
South Africa michelle.jarman (mailto:michelle.jarman@angloamerican.com) @angloamerican.com
(mailto:michelle.jarman@angloamerican.com)
Nevashnee Naicker
Tel: +44 (0)20 7968 1494
nevashnee.naicker@angloamerican.com
Tel: +27 (0)11 638 3189
Sibusiso Tshabalala
sibusiso.tshabalala@angloamerican.com
(mailto:sibusiso.tshabalala@angloamerican.com)
Tel: +27 (0)11 638 2175
Notes to editors:
Anglo American is a leading global mining company and our products are the
essential ingredients in almost every aspect of modern life. Our portfolio of
world-class competitive operations, with a broad range of future development
options, provides many of the future-enabling metals and minerals for a
cleaner, greener, more sustainable world and that meet the fast growing every
day demands of billions of consumers. With our people at the heart of our
business, we use innovative practices and the latest technologies to discover
new resources and to mine, process, move and market our products to our
customers - safely and sustainably.
As a responsible producer of diamonds (through De Beers), copper, platinum
group metals, premium quality iron ore and metallurgical coal for steelmaking,
and nickel - with crop nutrients in development - we are committed to being
carbon neutral across our operations by 2040. More broadly, our Sustainable
Mining Plan commits us to a series of stretching goals to ensure we work
towards a healthy environment, creating thriving communities and building
trust as a corporate leader. We work together with our business partners and
diverse stakeholders to unlock enduring value from precious natural resources
for the benefit of the communities and countries in which we operate, for
society as a whole, and for our shareholders. Anglo American is re-imagining
mining to improve people's lives.
www.angloamerican.com (http://www.angloamerican.com)
(https://www.facebook.com/AngloAmericanuk/?brand_redir=253615198009828)
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/anglo-american/)
(https://www.instagram.com/angloamericanplc/?hl=en)
(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3KrEjbgxO7cnM8-hEzapjw)
(https://twitter.com/angloamerican)
Forward-looking statements:
This document includes forward-looking statements. All statements other than
statements of historical facts included in this document, including, without
limitation, those regarding Anglo American's financial position, business,
acquisition and divestment strategy, dividend policy, plans and objectives of
management for future operations (including development plans and objectives
relating to Anglo American's products, production forecasts and Ore Reserve
and Mineral Resource positions) and environmental, social and corporate
governance goals and aspirations, are forward-looking statements. By their
nature, such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results,
performance or achievements of Anglo American or industry results to be
materially different from any future results, performance or achievements
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding
Anglo American's present and future business strategies and the environment in
which Anglo American will operate in the future. Important factors that could
cause Anglo American's actual results, performance or achievements to differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, among others,
levels of actual production during any period, levels of global demand and
commodity market prices, mineral resource exploration and development
capabilities, recovery rates and other operational capabilities, safety,
health or environmental incidents, the effects of global pandemics and
outbreaks of infectious diseases, the outcome of litigation or regulatory
proceedings, the availability of mining and processing equipment, the ability
to produce and transport products profitably, the availability of transport
infrastructure, the impact of foreign currency exchange rates on market prices
and operating costs, the availability of sufficient credit, the effects of
inflation, political uncertainty and economic conditions in relevant areas of
the world, the actions of competitors, activities by courts, regulators and
governmental authorities such as in relation to permitting or forcing closure
of mines and ceasing of operations or maintenance of Anglo American's assets
and changes in taxation or safety, health, environmental or other types of
regulation in the countries where Anglo American operates, conflicts over land
and resource ownership rights and such other risk factors identified in Anglo
American's most recent Annual Report. Forward-looking statements should,
therefore, be construed in light of such risk factors and undue reliance
should not be placed on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this document. Anglo American
expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking (except as required by
applicable law, the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, the UK Listing Rules,
the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority, the
Listings Requirements of the securities exchange of the JSE Limited in South
Africa, the SIX Swiss Exchange, the Botswana Stock Exchange and the Namibian
Stock Exchange and any other applicable regulations) to release publicly any
updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to
reflect any change in Anglo American's expectations with regard thereto or any
change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is
based.
Nothing in this document should be interpreted to mean that future earnings
per share of Anglo American will necessarily match or exceed its historical
published earnings per share. Certain statistical and other information about
Anglo American included in this document is sourced from publicly available
third party sources. As such it has not been independently verified and
presents the views of those third parties, but may not necessarily correspond
to the views held by Anglo American and Anglo American expressly disclaims any
responsibility for, or liability in respect of, such information.
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