BHP raises full-year profit

Sydney - Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL] on Tuesday posted a full-year profit of $13.8bn, 23% up on the figure in 2013, and said it would offload non-core assets to a new entity.

The figure was slightly lower than expected but showed the company had overcome the effects of a slide in the prices of iron ore and copper -BHP Billiton's key commodities, analysts in Australia said.

The company said it would demerge most of its aluminium, coal, manganese, nickel and silver assets to a new firm that will be listed only in Australia and South Africa in the first half of next year.

"With a simpler portfolio we are targeting at least another $3.5bn in productivity-related gains by the end of the 2017 financial year," BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said.