The Times - UK (2022-02-23)

42 Wednesday February 23 2022 | the times

Business

Antofagasta is to pay a record

$1.4 billion dividend after soaring

copper prices helped it to deliver its

biggest annual profits.

The Chilean copper miner said that

earnings before interest, taxation,

depreciation and amortisation rose by

77 per cent to $4.8 billion. That was

driven by a 46 per cent increase in

revenues of $7.5 billion on the back of a

47 per cent rise in the price at which it

sold the red metal.

Antofagasta, controlled by the Luksic

family, operates four copper mines in

Chile, two of which also produce gold

and silver. Copper is used in electrical

wiring and has been in strong demand

as the global economy bounces back

from Covid and amid investment in

renewable energy and electric vehicles.

Prices hit a record high last year and

Antofagasta pays record

dividend as copper soars

have remained elevated with stockpiles

low and supplies constrained.

Iván Arriagada, chief executive, said:

“We’re expecting in 2022 the market to

still show a shortage between supply

and demand and with the very low level

of inventories that we have, that is ex-

pected to mean that prices will remain

at levels that we have seen recently.”

Chile is the world’s biggest copper

producer but miners in the country are

facing uncertainty after proposals by

the country’s lower house of congress

to double the effective tax rate from its

current 40 per cent. Last month the up-

per house proposed 60 per cent.

Arriagada said that would still “place

the industry at the level of competitive-

ness which will be hard to sustain for

new investments”.

He said he hoped for more moderate

proposals from a new government that

takes office in March.

Emily Gosden

Smith & Nephew dismiss

chief after just two years

The chief executive of the knee replace-

ment group Smith & Nephew is to leave

abruptly, a little over two years after he

took the top job following the hasty exit

of his predecessor.

In an unexpected announcement,

the FTSE 100 medical technology

company said that Roland Diggelmann

has been asked to clear his desk by the

end of next month.

He is to be replaced by Deepak Nath

who has been recruited from the health

business of the German conglomerate

Siemens.

Diggelmann is to leave with a payoff

of about £4.3 million, including one

year’s salary and his current and future

share of the executive bonus pot.

Nath is to arrive with a “golden hello”

of £6.3 million, the equivalent of unpaid

bonuses from his time at Siemens on

top of a salary and pension of £1.2 mil-

lion a year before bonuses

Smith & Nephew said Diggelmann’s

departure was by mutual agreement

although, according to sources, the

arrival of Nath is to shake up the com-

pany and get it growing more quickly

and strongly.

Diggelmann had replaced Namal

Nawana just before the onset of the

Covid-19 pandemic following a row

about the chief executive’s pay between

Nawana and the Smith & Nephew

chairman Roberto Quarta, whose

reputation earlier in his business career

had earned him the nickname “Bob the

Knife”.

Smith & Nephew said that Nath’s

record at Siemens was one of leading

“a major programme to drive growth

and margin expansion through

improved execution and a strong

results-focused culture”.

Based in Watford, Smith & Nephew

employs 16,000 people around the

world. It was founded by a Victorian

dispensing chemist in Hull and its first

big commercial contract was a huge

order for bandages for the western

front during the First World War. A

decade later it created Elastoplast.

While the company is still involved in

wound management, it is better known

for its orthopaedic implants and treat-

ments for sports injuries. Its largest

single business is knee replacements.

In 2021 full-year results announced

yesterday, revenues increased by 10 per

cent to $5.2 billion while operating

profits doubled to $593 million. The

dividend is being held at 37.5 cents a

share.

Smith & Nephew shares, which were

trading at nearly £20 in 2019 but have

fallen since the arrival of Covid-19, rose

4 per cent, or 52½p, to £12.33.

Quarta said of Nath’s arrival: “He is

joining us at an inflection point for the

business and will bring his drive, experi-

ence and expertise to lead the team in

delivering our ‘strategy for growth’ at

pace.”

AstraZeneca

chairman to step

down next year

A

straZeneca has

confirmed that Leif

Johansson will stand

down as chairman next

April after 11 years in the

role, (Robert Lea writes).

The FTSE 100 group said that the

search for a new chairman was

being led by Philip Broadley, the

senior independent non-executive

director, and was “proceeding well”.

Johansson’s tenure as chairman

will be longer than the nine years

that non-executive board members

Roland Diggelmann to

be replaced by senior

Siemens executive,

reports Robert Lea