FY2022 financial results

BHP delivered strong financial results in FY2022 against a backdrop of increasing economic volatility, inflationary impacts and supply chain pressures.

Excluding Petroleum, underlying EBITDA in FY2022 was up 16 per cent to US$40.6 billion at a record margin of 65 per cent. Underlying attributable profit increased to US$21.3 billion.

The total shareholder dividend for FY2022 was 325 US cents, an annual cash return of a record US$16.4 billion to shareholders and representing a 77 per cent payout ratio. We also distributed a further US$19.6 billion as an in specie dividend through the merger of our Petroleum business with Woodside.

Our total direct economic contribution was US$78.1 billion. This included payments to suppliers, wages and benefits for around 80,000 employees and contractors, dividends, taxes, royalties and voluntary investment in social projects across the communities where we operate.

In FY2022, our tax, royalty and other payments to governments totalled a record US$17.3 billion. Of this, 77.5 per cent or US$13.4 billion was paid in Australia. During the last decade, we paid US$90.5 billion globally in taxes, royalties and other payments, including US$70 billion (approximately A$90.1 billion) in Australia. 

BHP’s global adjusted effective tax rate in FY2022 was 32.1 per cent, broadly in line with our average adjusted effective tax rate over the past decade of 33.3 per cent. Once royalties are included, our FY2022 rate increases to 38.9 per cent.

Our business model

By prioritising both financial and social value, we deliver long-term value and resilience for our shareholders and all our stakeholders.

How we create and grow value

We produce some of the essential resources needed to support global megatrends, such as decarbonisation, and we strive to produce them sustainably, efficiently and ethically.

We seek to create value with the communities where we operate and for our shareholders.

Our portfolio

We are reshaping our portfolio to focus on higher-quality iron ore and metallurgical coal preferred by our steelmaking customers, copper for electrification and renewable energy, nickel for electric vehicles and potash to make food production and land use more efficient and sustainable.

Social value

Social value is BHP’s positive contribution to society – our people, partners, the economy, the environment and local communities. It is about creating enduring, mutual benefit for BHP, our shareholders and the broader community. 

Doing this well is essential to better business outcomes and long-term shareholder value, and will create a competitive advantage.

Exceptional performance

We seek to continuously improve performance by empowering our people through the BHP Operating System (BOS) principles, practices and tools. 

BOS is, at its heart, a people program. It is designed to provide a way of working that creates a culture at BHP where we make continuous improvement central to everyone’s role.

Positioning for the future

In FY2022, we took steps to create a simpler, more agile and efficient BHP, better able to capitalise on the megatrends shaping our world.
This included creating a simpler corporate structure, merging Petroleum with Woodside, consolidating our coal portfolio and investing in a new commodity – potash. 

Unlocking growth potential at our assets

The large endowments we have under our control are becoming increasingly valuable as the resources industry finds high-quality, Tier 1 (large, low-cost and long-life) resources harder to access, deeper, of lower grade, or in countries with more challenging operating conditions.

We hold the largest copper endowment in the world, the second largest nickel sulphide endowment and are one of the world’s largest iron ore producers and expect to increase production over the medium term.

Growth through exploration, focused on copper and nickel

Despite the slowdown and restrictions on movement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in FY2022 our field teams pursued copper opportunities in Chile, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, the United States and Australia. This involved early-stage reconnaissance work through target definition and drill testing.
Our resource assessment exploration expenditure increased by 30 per cent in FY2022 to US$179 million, while our greenfield expenditure increased by 43 per cent to US$77 million.

Health and safety

Our highest priority is the safety of our workforce and the communities where we operate.

We achieved a third consecutive year without a fatality and have seen a sustained improvement in the high-potential injury frequency rate which fell by 30 per cent in FY2022.

We are committed to protecting the health and wellbeing of our workforce. Over the past five years, we have achieved a 68 per cent reduction in the total number of workers exposed to our most material occupational exposures.

Inclusion and diversity

We continue to build a more inclusive and diverse workforce that further enhances our performance and better reflects the communities where we operate

Gender balance

We remain on track to achieve our aspirational goal for a gender-balanced employee workforce globally by FY2025.

Indigenous employment

We made progress during FY2022 against targets for increased Indigenous employment in our Minerals Australia operations, Minerals Americas operations in Chile and our Jansen Potash Project in Canada.