The past week hasn't been kind to the BHP Group Ltd (ASX: AXE) share price. Over the past week, shares in the mining giant have tumbled around 7%.
Let's take a look at what's been weighing down BHP shares.
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Why is the BHP share price struggling?
Earlier this week, a new bidder emerged to acquire Canadian nickel miner Noront Resources Ltd.
According to reports, Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest's Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd offered to acquire Noront for C70 cents (A76 cents) per share in an all-cash offering.
The new offer was a 27% premium on BHP's previous offer of C55 cents (A60 cents) per share.
Shares in BHP came under further pressure after curtailed steel production in China resulted in a weaker iron ore price.
Arguably the largest catalyst that caused the BHP share price to sink was yesterday when the company was trading ex-dividend.
As a result, new shareholders in BHP are deemed ineligible to receive the upcoming dividend payment.
In its full-year report for FY21, BHP declared a record fully-franked dividend of $2.73 per share.
How did BHP perform in FY21?
BHP released its full-year results for FY21 in mid-August. The BHP share price sunk soon after the report was released.
The mining giant's report was highlighted by a record dividend and news of a merger with Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL).
The proposal involved BHP merging its oil and gas assets with Woodside, and Woodside would be providing new shares to BHP shareholders.
Other highlights from the company's full-year report included:
- Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) up 69% to US$37,379 million;
- Underlying attributable profit increased 88% to US$17,077 million;
- Net operating cash flow up 73% to US$27,234 million;
- Underlying earnings per share of 337.7 US cents.
Snapshot of the BHP share price
In addition to struggling this past week, shares in BHP have taken a dive since the company reported its results. Since releasing its full-year results, the BHP share price has tanked more than 17% in the last 3 weeks.
As a result, shares in BHP have given away all their gains for 2021 to be flat for the year.
At the time of writing, BHP shares are up 1.24% on the day to $42.46.
