Analyst Note
| Mathew Hodge, CFA |No-moat BHP Group delivered a strong first-half fiscal 2021 adjusted net profit after tax rose 16% to USD 6.0 billion. Overall, group adjusted EBIT rose 25% to USD 11.3 billion. Iron ore was the key driver, with divisional adjusted EBIT up 47% to USD 9.3 billion. The improvement was driven primarily by the 33% higher iron ore price, while volumes were up 7%. Copper EBIT was also notable, nearly doubling to USD 2.9 billion. Coal and petroleum lagged, collectively losing USD 0.7 billion of EBIT versus a USD 1.3 billion profit a year ago. BHP’s received oil and hard coking coal prices slipped about 30%.