BHP Billiton's Chief Executive Steps Down Following Huge Profit Loss

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth)--BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) (London, England) (Chief Executive Marius Kloppers is stepping down following an announcement that the world's biggest mining company suffered a 58% fall in half-year profit. The recent announcement came as the company posted a profit of $4.24 billion. The drop is due to a weak dollar and decreased commodity prices.

Marius Kloppers was a director at BHP Billiton for six years, and during this time the company took $3 billion in write-downs on its aluminium and nickel business. Kloppers has been praised for leading BHP through the financial crisis. But he has been criticised by shareholders for disappointing returns on investment and expensive bids for shale gas assets in the U.S. that led to $2.8 billion in write-downs and cost Kloppers his bonus in 2012.

Kloppers was the head of BHP when it proposed a $40 billion deal for Canada's largest producer of potash, a mineral used in fertiliser. The bid failed for Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (NYSE:POT) (Saskatchewan, Canada) because it lacked support from the Saskatchewan government and was eventually blocked because it didn't pass a net benefit test based on strategic, fiscal and economic criteria.

Kloppers is being replaced in May 2013 by Andrew Mackenzie, the chief executive of the company's non-ferrous metals division. Mackenzie is an oil, gas and minerals expert who held senior positions with rival miner Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) (London) before joining BHP Billiton in 2008.

Mackenzie was with BP plc (NYSE:BP) (London) before moving to the mining industry and is valued for his experience in other commodities BHP has targeted to make itself less dependent on iron ore.

The handover coincides with senior changes within Rio Tinto, Anglo American plc (LSE:AAL) (JSE:ANGLO) (London) and Xstrata plc (LSE:XTA) (Zug, Switzerland), which have all taken on new chief executives after losses on expensive projects and acquisitions and costs that got out of control in the boom years. BHP has not outlined a target for cutting costs--unlike Rio Tinto, which plans to cut $5 billion in costs by the end of 2014.

Industrial Info is currently tracking 23 BHP Billiton projects under development in Australia. The projects are in varying stages and represent a total investment value of more than $32.7 billion.

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