The 2% club

[takeover]

BHP hottest commodity stock ever IMO - 6k out today says it all new discoveries and stock buy backs

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http://xml.10kwizard.com/filing_raw.php?repo=tenk&ipage=5189298

Capital management strategy is central to our long-term performance Our capital management strategy remains the same: to reinvest in our extensive pipeline of world-class projects that carry attractive rates of return regardless of the economic climate; ensure a solid balance sheet; and return excess capital to shareholders.

In a strong commodities market, the cost of reinvesting in projects has grown, but our robust investment approvals process ensures that projects have a high probability of success and are capable of achieving optimal shareholder value with an acceptable degree of risk. Our goal is to invest in opportunities that are aligned with our strategic drivers and that achieve returns in excess of the cost of capital over the long term.

The US$13 billion capital management program announced during the year, together with five years of consecutive dividend growth and a commitment to maintain a progressive dividend policy, reflects our confidence in our ability to continue producing solid earnings and cash flow that can support these increased shareholder returns without impacting our investment program.

During the financial year we bought back 287,820,269 of our shares at a cost of US$5.8 billion through on-market share buy-back programs in the United Kingdom and an off-market share buy-back program in Australia. The cancellation of those shares effectively reduced the number of shares on issue in the market, thereby increasing the earnings and cash flow attributable to each remaining share. The rebasing of the final dividend to 27 US cents per share – an increase of 46 per cent over last year’s final dividend – is a strong indication of our confidence in the outlook for the industry and our ability to support this higher level of dividend over the longer term.