Company news in brief

BHP sees upside in copper, steel prices Top global miner BHP Billiton Ltd said yesterday it will drive further cost cuts across its Australian business, and forecast strong price support from China for steelmaking raw materials. China's belt and road initiative will drive an extra 150 million tonnes of steel demand, driven by US$1.3 trillion of infrastructure development, she said. BHP forecast an additional 700 000 tonnes of copper in concentrate would be produced between now and 2020, while China would add 1.5 million tonnes of copper capacity by 2020, alongside capacity expansion in India. China's blanket import ban on a type of assembled copper scrap from the end of 2018 could also lead to a "leakage" of around 100,000 tonnes of copper in 2018 and more than double that in 2019. – Nampa/Reuters

Shell scraps scrip dividend

Royal Dutch Shell yesterday said it will cancel an austerity dividend policy as the oil and gas company boosted its cash generation forecasts, drawing a line under three years of oil price turmoil.

The Anglo-Dutch company said it will abolish its scrip dividend, through which investors can opt to receive dividends in shares or cash, in the fourth quarter of 2017. The scrip dividend scheme was introduced in early 2015 following the sharp drop in oil prices.

In a strategy update, Shell also raised its cash flow outlook from US$25 billion to US$30 billion by 2020, assuming an oil price of US$60 a barrel. – Nampa/Reuters

Mediclinic names chief clinical officer as CEO

South African private hospital group Mediclinic said on Monday it had appointed its chief clinical officer Carel Aron van der Merwe as its new CEO.

Van der Merwe joined South Africa's largest private hospital in 1999 and will replace 22-year veteran Danie Meintjes, who had previously announced his decision to retire at the end of next July.

The group, which recently dropped a plan to take over Britain's Spire Healthcare, said van der Merwe would take over on a date to be mutually agreed, but not later than Aug. 1.

One of the issues facing Van der Merwe will be dealing with problems at Mediclinic's Middle East business where core earnings fell more than 20 percent in the six months to Sept. 30. – Nampa/Reuters

VW eyes more opportunities in China

Volkswagen may expand cooperation with China's Anhui Jianghuai Automobile (JAC) beyond electric cars to jointly develop and build commercial vehicles in the world's largest autos market.

On Monday VW said it was looking along with its commercial vehicles division at deepening the cooperation with JAC to include the design, technology, product quality and development of multi-function vehicles.

The venture would affect combustion engined and alternative-energy powered vehicles, would be owned equally by JAC and VW and would be based in JAC's home town of Hefei, VW said. – Nampa/Reuters

Exxon Mobil chief revamps operations

Exxon Mobil Corp chief executive Darren Woods is reorganizing the company's refining and chemical operations, part of a push to boost profits amid volatile oil and natural gas prices, a spokeswoman said.

The changes at the world's largest publicly traded oil producer are the most sweeping to date by Woods, who became chief executive in January after former chief Rex Tillerson resigned to become US secretary of state.

The reorganisation aims to squeeze more profits from the fuel and chemicals businesses as the company works to improve its exploration and production operations, which have struggled since 2014 to adjust to lower oil and gas prices. – Nampa/Reuters