General News
Anglo’s Big Surprise, Big Disappointment And Biggest Challenge
Summary of original article by Jeffrey Sparshott - WSJ
Anglo American has been slow to acknowledge it overpaid for its flagship iron ore
project, the Minas Rio and Amapa assets in Brazil. The miner paid about
$6.5 billion during the market’s 2008 peak, saddling it with debt and
contributing to last year’s decision to pay no final dividend for the
first time since World War II.
Anglo announced today (Friday,19) that it has been forced to take a $1.5 billion
impairment on Amapa due to problems ramping up and expanding
production. It also raised its capex forecast on the first phase of
Minas Rio’s development to $3.8 billion from $2.7 billion to account of
altered mine, pipeline and port plans, as well as foreign exchange
movements.
Presented by Real Trade: 2/19/2010