Anglo American Trims Debt But Weak Prices Continue to Weigh

By Scott Patterson

LONDON--Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) on Thursday reported a steep first-half loss as the mining giant continues to suffer from weak commodity prices, though it showed some success in paring down its heavy debt load.

The U.K.-listed miner posted a net loss of $813 million for the first half of 2016, compared with an adjusted $3 billion loss for the same period last year.

The loss included a $1.2 billion impairment for some of Anglo's Australian coal assets, the company said.

Revenue fell 20% to $10.6 billion during the period from last year. Net debt fell to $11.7 billion as of June 30, down from $12.9 billion at the end of 2015, the result of asset sales and cash-flow, among other things. Anglo American Chief Executive Mark Cutifani has said the company expects to sell $3 billion to $4 billion in assets this year as the company launches a sweeping restructuring plan.

"The decisive actions we have taken to strengthen the balance sheet put us well on track to achieve our net debt target of less than $10 billion at the end of 2016," Mr. Cutifani said Thursday.

Anglo in 2015 reported a loss of $5.6 billion, the result of a steep dive in commodity prices in the second half of the year as well as $3.8 billion in impairment charges.

-Write to Scott Patterson at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 28, 2016 02:38 ET (06:38 GMT)

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