BHP follows suit with peers and cuts its pay-rate

BHP's half-year results also dashed any hopes that we are now approaching the bottom of the cycle. The board said that while it was "prepared for lower prices across our commodities" - itself a dubious claim given the events of the past couple of years - it now believes "the period of weaker prices and higher volatility will be prolonged". Not for the first time, that sparked a wider sell-off across the whole mining sector, with Anglo American (AAL), Glencore (GLEN) and Rio Tinto (RIO) all losing ground.

Troubles persist at all those companies, although the leverage issues at Anglo and Glencore are not as pronounced at BHP. The company's credit rating - while recently downgraded by Standard & Poor's - tops the sector, and net debt of $25.9bn remains in line with last year's figure. That's despite an 84 per cent drop in underlying operating earnings and a steeper than expected decline in commodity prices.

What those peers do not have is a headache on the scale of BHP's Samarco iron ore joint venture in Brazil. The collapse of the site's dam in November, which killed at least 17 people and led to widespread environmental damage, is set to cast a shadow over the group for some time. Despite writing off $858m related to the project in the half year to December, the magnitude and timing of the legal contingencies remain "subject to a very high degree of uncertainty".

Prior to these results, JPMorgan was forecasting a full-year loss per share of 88¢ and a net loss of $4.7bn for the June year-end, prior to positive returns of 3¢ and $134m in 2017.