Anglo American PLC said on Wednesday the diverse portfolio of commodities, including copper, shielded the group from the current market volatility and positioned it for long-term growth.

Speaking at an annual general meeting held on Wednesday, Anglo American Chair Stuart Chambers acknowledged that 2022 was a ‘tough’ year in many ways, with extreme weather and other factors affecting operations.

Despite headwinds, Chambers said the mining group performed strongly and delivered the new copper mine Quellaveco in Peru ‘on time and on budget’.

Quellaveco was commissioned in the middle of last year and Anglo American said it will increase its global production base by 10%.

On Woodsmith polyhalite project in North Yorkshire, Chambers said the company was making good progress with the critical infrastructure - the shafts and tunnel - and excellent progress with the product, too.

‘Our diversified set of assets is increasingly focused on the metals and minerals that are enabling both the move to a lower carbon economy and to meeting the many demand needs and wants of a growing global population,’ the chair said.

‘Anglo American’s differentiated combination of portfolio diversification and growth optionality continues to set us apart from our peers and to position us strongly through the current market volatility and for the longer term cycle,’ Chambers told shareholders.

At the AGM, Anglo American Chief Executive Duncan Wanblad said the diversified miner ‘certainly’ felt the effects of dislocations in the global economy on its business - in energy, and across supply chains and labour markets.

‘To summarise, overall, a strong set of numbers in the circumstances - and I am encouraged by the operational momentum we carried into 2023, through what is always the seasonally slower first quarter of the year,’ Wanbald said.

Anglo American released its 2022 financial results late in February.

The London-based group slashed its final dividend for 2022 to $0.74, down 37% from $1.18. Total payout for 2022 tumbled by 60% to $1.98 from $4.99 in 2021.

Anglo reported pretax profit of $9.48 billion in 2022, down 46% from $17.63 billion in 2021.

Revenue fell by 15% to $35.12 billion from $41.55 billion, taking underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to $14.50 billion, down 30% from $20.63 billion.

Shares in Anglo American ended 1.3% stronger at R 561.84 on Wednesday in Johannesburg. They added 0.6% to 2,441.50 pence in London.

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