BHP drops quarterly reports
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Goodyear took over as CEO after Gilbertson quit in January this year.
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SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Anglo-Australian resources giant BHP Billiton will no longer report quarterly financial results, saying they encourage a "short term focus".
BHP Billiton, which is listed in Australia and the UK, said Friday it would continue to release a quarterly production report and an exploration and development report, in accordance with the listing rules of the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
In a statement to the ASX, BHP Billiton's CFO Chris Lynch said quarterly reporting "consumes significant amounts of management time and encourages a short term focus on what is a long term business."
Lynch said the company would follow standard practice in the Australian and UK markets of reporting half and full year results -- a decision, he said, that would bring BHP into line with its major peers.
"The operational performance of the company will continue to be reported on a quarterly basis through our production report," he said.
BHP Billiton is the world's biggest diversified resources company, and was formed from the $28 billion merger of Australia's BHP and South Africa's Billiton in July 2001.
It gained a new CEO, Chip Goodyear, earlier this year following the shock resignation of Brian Gilbertson in January.
Gilbertson, who was Billiton's executive chairman at the time of the merger, became CEO in July 2002, succeeding Paul Anderson. But he quit suddenly on January 6 this year, citing irreconcilable differences with the board.
In August BHP Billiton reported net profit of $1.92 billion for the year to June 30, a gain of 2.9 percent. The result would have been better but for the adverse impact of stronger currencies in Australia, South Africa and Canada.
Sales were 15 percent higher at $17.5 billion on the back of a commodity boom driven by China's demand for raw materials. (Full story)
BHP Billiton will release its half year results on February 19 next year and its full year results next August.
