BHP quits US shale as annual profit surges

Sydney

BHP Billiton, the world's largest miner, reported a surge in underlying full-year profits on Tuesday and said that it would exit its underperforming US shale oil and gas business, pleasing disgruntled shareholders who had called for a sale.

The Anglo-Australian mining giant, which is under pressure from US hedge fund Elliott Management to rethink its investment in oil and boost shareholder returns, was buoyed by a recovery in industrial commodities markets.

It generated more cash than even in some years of the mining boom, slashed net debt by nearly US$10 billion to US$16.3 billion and tripled its final dividend to US$0.43 a share.

Underlying profit of US$6.7 billion was below expectations for US$7.4 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, but the market focused on the lower debt and the company's determinat…