BHP Billiton's share price has marched back to pre-global financial crisis levels on a rebound in commodity prices and what it told shareholders at its Brisbane annual meeting was a surprising velocity of recovery in China.
The stock rose strongly again yesterday, putting on 61¢ to $41.80 - its highest closing price since July 2 last year when the storm clouds for what became the crisis in mid-September 2008 were starting to gather. The march to the 16-month high also reflects market acceptance that BHP will not return with a new takeover bid for Rio Tinto once the ban on it bidding passes with the anniversary of last year's failed takeover bid.
Despite the share-price rebound and China's economic resilience, BHP chief executive Marius Kloppers stopped well short of making a call at the meeting that the global recession was over.
''Even though market sentiment has improved since I spoke at our London AGM a month ago, we continue to believe that we will come out of this recession less strongly than in previous cycles,'' he said.
The marathon 3½ hour meeting was again dominated by questions on BHP's uranium interests and indigenous people issues, in Australia and overseas. BHP chairman Don Argus eventually grew tired of the anti-nuclear questioning, saying he was not prepared for his last meeting as chairman to be hijacked by anti-nuclear campaigners.
Mr Argus is due to depart in May. A question from the floor enabled Mr Argus to tackle one of his favorite subjects - the rights and wrongs of investment by state-owned enterprises and sovereign wealth funds in the Australian resources sector.
He said Australian resources companies had no choice but to source funding from overseas because of a reluctance by local institutions to get involved in new developments. "We find a place for all of our shareholders and we don't have any objection to people buying shares," Mr Argus said. ''But if they wanted to make a takeover for us, then that becomes a different game.''
After the meeting, Mr Kloppers had to clarify the expected timing of BHP's proposed $US116 billion ($A125 billion) iron ore joint venture with Rio Tinto in the Pilbara, one that European steel makers have asked competition regulators to ban.
While Rio has led the market to believe a December 5 target existed for a binding and definitive agreement to be in place, Mr Kloppers said BHP had always said it would be towards the end of the year. ''I see no reason to update that prediction,'' he said.
''I'm confident we've done a very good job of constructing the JV [joint venture] in a manner that is compatible with the knowledge that we've got.''
