It's a big day for BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares today.
Not because shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) mining giant are marching higher. Although the stock is indeed well into the green. Trading at $43.51 apiece, shares are up 1.1% in early afternoon trade on Wednesday. That's well ahead of the 0.4% loss posted by the ASX 200 at this same time.
But the big news for BHP shares today is the company's annual general meeting (AGM), taking place in Queensland and online.
Here's what's happening.
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BHP shares in focus amid AGM
BHP chair Ken Mackenzie led off the meeting, offering investors a look at how BHP shares are preparing for a fast-changing world.
"We have deliberately and methodically reshaped our portfolio to increase our exposure to future facing commodities," Mackenzie said.
He continued:
We have achieved a world-leading position in copper, which is key to renewable energy, electric vehicles and, increasingly, data centres.
We are developing a position in potash that will contribute to food security and more sustainable land use to help feed a global population that is expected to near 10 billion by 2050.
We have focused our steelmaking coal portfolio on higher quality coals.
As for iron ore, which remains the biggest revenue earner for BHP shares, Mackenzie said, "We have extended our lead as the lowest cost major iron ore producer globally and we continue to see opportunities for greater efficiencies to unlock even more value."
In FY 2024, BHP achieved underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$29 billion.
Mackenzie also addressed the recent legal actions and resolutions involving the Samarco dam collapse.
He said:
Last Friday we announced a final settlement agreement in Brazil to resolve the key claims by the Brazilian public authorities relating to Samarco's Fundão dam failure.
The dam failure was and remains a tragedy and will never be forgotten. We are deeply sorry for the loss of life and the damage it caused. We know that nothing can undo the impacts it caused.
Insights from the CEO
BHP CEO Mike Henry took the stage next and noted that "2024 was another year of strong delivery" for BHP shares.
"In FY 2024, we achieved production records at a number of our assets, and we widened our lead as the world's lowest cost iron ore producer," Henry said.
Henry then addressed the appeal of the ASX 200 mining stock for passive income investors.
Henry said:
The solid operational performance our workforce delivered, along with higher prices in key commodities, helped us deliver dividends totalling 146 US cents – or about 220 Australian cents per share for the year.
Since FY 2021, BHP has paid the most dividends of any mining company globally, and in fact has been one of the highest dividend payers across all industries.
BHP shares currently trade on a 5.1% fully franked trailing dividend yield.
