Press release – 16 February, 2016Sydney, 16 February 2016 – Responding to Anglo American’s full-year earnings report and the company’s credit status downgrade by ratings agency Moody’s, Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s climate and energy campaigner Nikola Casule said:“This is not the bottom of an economic cycle that Anglo American can turn around, this is a report from a company suffering within an entire industry that is in structural decline.
“The low coal price is set to last for years, offering no way out for coal mining companies like Anglo American, which are staring into a black hole. [1]
“Results such as these serve to confirm that there’s no future left for coal mining in Australia. Rather than propping up a failing industry, the focus now has to be on making sure that the people left working in mines can be retrained so they can still work and support their families when these mines are sold or shut down.”
Anglo American today posted a $5.6bn pre-tax net loss for 2015 and announced plans to speed up its asset disposal program.
Yesterday, ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Anglo American’s credit rating to junk. The status dropped three notches to (P)Ba3 from (P)Baa3. [2]
“The junk rating is a signal to policymakers as well as investors to distance themselves from a failing company heavily exposed to an industry in structural decline. Anglo American is the first to see its credit rating cut to below investment grade, but it certainly won’t be the last.
“Malcolm Turnbull has already
acknowledged
that the end of the mining boom always had to happen so Australia now needs to start its plan B and start planning for a future and economy without coal mining,” said Dr Casule. [3]
Last week the Queensland Resources Council
requested emergency financial relief
from the Queensland and federal governments ahead of dire projections for the mining industry. [4]
“The mining industry is now crying out for a bailout from taxpayers on top of the $4.5bn it already pockets every year in subsidies – but it doesn’t pay its fair share of tax, has shed 40,000 workers since 2012 and is expected to make 20,000 more people redundant next year. [5][6]
“Taxpayers should not foot the bill for the industry’s forecasting failure. It’s beyond time that state and federal governments put an end to fossil fuel subsidies and drive a transition plan that helps people retrain for jobs in the industries of the future.”