Billiton thinks big with £7bn plans

MINING giant BHP Billiton has highlighted the growth potential of the recently-merged group by saying it had $10bn (£7bn) of new projects under consideration. This includes the $1.8bn it has committed since last year's merger and spans its oil, metals and commodities portfolio, said deputy chief executive Brian Gilbertson.

The group's potentially enormous growth profile may spook BHP shareholders, who remember the financial disasters that resulted from its insatiable appetite for expansion in the early 1990s.

But Gilbertson said the group had the 'most rigorous' approval processes it could and would take five years to work through the list of proposed developments.

Bombed-out metal prices restricted BHP to a $1.2bn profit for the six months to 31 December, a rise of just 3.5%. Lower prices sliced $280m from earnings, more than offsetting the gains from acquisitions and favourable currency movements.