Research Update: Anglo American PLC 'BBB' Rating Placed On CreditWatch Negative On A New Stand-Alone Strategy

On March 8, 2024, we downgraded global mining company Anglo American PLC (Anglo) to 'BBB' from 'BBB+' on its new operational guidance and our lack of visibility on the company's portfolio in the next few years. Since then, Anglo has rejected three takeover offers from Australian rival BHP Group and instead announced a substantial portfolio re-shaping. In our view, Anglo's bid to pursue a stand-alone strategy with a substantially reduced portfolio of commodities could weaken its portfolio. However, material proceeds could offset the pressure on the rating. We therefore placed our 'BBB' long-term issuer credit rating on Anglo on CreditWatch with negative implications. At the same time, we affirmed our 'zaAAA/zaA-1+' long- and short-term South Africa national scale ratings on

...- On March 8, 2024, we downgraded global mining company Anglo American PLC (Anglo) to '###' from '###+' on its new operational guidance and our lack of visibility on the company's portfolio in the next few years. - Since then, Anglo has rejected three takeover offers from Australian rival BHP Group and instead announced a substantial portfolio re-shaping. - In our view, Anglo's bid to pursue a stand-alone strategy with a substantially reduced portfolio of commodities could weaken its portfolio. However, material proceeds could offset the pressure on the rating. - We therefore placed our '###' long-term issuer credit rating on Anglo on CreditWatch with negative implications. At the same time, we affirmed our 'zaAAA/zaA-1+' long- and short-term South Africa national scale ratings on Anglo. - We aim to resolve the CreditWatch in the coming quarters as the company progresses with its new strategy....

Research Update