Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Fortescue's FY 2022 results presentation. Joining me today in Perth is Elizabeth Gaines, Chief Executive of Fortescue. Elizabeth, you could not have been a more effective, gracious leader. You've crossed between, in my view, a Queen Boudica and a Mother Teresa whenever required, and our results throughout COVID, our strength of new projects and great operations bear that testimony. You've been wise, humble, sharp as a tack, and always living our values, teaching them wherever you've gone. Alongside us is Ian Wells, Fortescue's Chief Financial Officer. I'm delighted that we're also joined by Fortescue Future Industries' Chief Executive Officer, Mark Hutchinson. I have excused Guy Debelle. He had a minor biking accident on the weekend. He will be back on his pins shortly. His role will be covered by all of us, and particularly by Hutch, our CEO of FFI.
Whether you're participating via phone or webcast, thank you for joining us. Those who've joined us via webcast, you'll be able to follow along with the slides, and those who've dialed in separately, a copy of our FY 2022 results presentation is available on our website. That brings me to our full year results. They build on the record operational performance we released to the market only a few weeks ago. Today's announcement is just truly a testament to the hard work, dedication of the entire Fortescue team, guided as we are by our unique values and culture, just as relevant today as they were when Fortescue was established. As you know, we emerged just 19 years ago, a David amongst the Pilbara and global iron ore Goliaths. Tiny, though fast, sure, agile and innovative.
We had no ground, hardly any capital, and certainly no way of getting anything we did find to market. Understandably, the task was written off as impossible. You can be forgiven for thinking the same about now. Fortescue will once again be the catalyst to change. As we are now, back then, we were humble, frugal, empowered, enthusiastic, and just a little courageous. Determination as steely as our product. We will never give up. These values guided us to become one of the largest iron ore producers and certainly the most efficient in the world. To bear that out, this year, Fortescue shipped a record of 189 million tons of iron ore, despite the immense headwinds posed by COVID and rising inflation. This coming year, we're aiming to break further records with guidance for shipments of 187-192 million tons.
Iron Bridge will come online, capable of delivering 22 million tons of high-grade 67% iron concentrate, and despite funding this massive new asset, our balance sheet has remained very strong. These records and the prospect of even greater performance is exciting. To me, knowing our Fortescue family so well and our tremendous capability, I'm actually not surprised. What did surprise me is how this great team, revolving around our values, embraced so rapidly with heartfelt commitment, the massive challenge of transforming our company to green. To be the first major heavy industry company in the world to do so. Having traveled all over the world several times prior to and during the formal establishment of FFI, I can assure you this group, with their courage, determination, enthusiasm, and innovation, is without peer.
It is often said that when you come to a fork in the road, take it. Over the long term, the cost of not doing so, of indecision, of dithering, it can be very costly. We extend this with the great poet, Robert Frost, who remembered his most important days, his greatest memories, as when he took the road less traveled. We're unashamedly unafraid of being decisive and consistently taking the road less traveled. Today, we have two choices. First, we can turn a blind eye to the rapidly changing global business and regulatory climate and of course, to climate change itself. Evidence of that change you see deleteriously now all over the world.
We can transition, as we all believe we must, into a global green metals, minerals, energy, technology, and development company capable of delivering not only green iron ore, but also all of the minerals critical to the green energy transition. Fortescue can and will lead the green energy revolution and once again, set record-breaking industry benchmarks in everything we do. We have already begun. As I return to Executive Chairman role, I'm equally excited to welcome former President and CEO of General Electric Europe and previously GE China, Mark Hutchinson, with former Reserve Bank of Australia Deputy Governor, Dr. Guy Debelle, to FFI's strong leadership team.
We're bringing global leaders with a proven track record in managing large-scale, complex global organizations and projects, which goes to the heart of our vision for Fortescue, bound together as we are by our common values and philosophy. Our operations do and will require green energy. Every time we produce green energy globally, we will need green metals. This is a symbiotic transition into becoming one global green metals, green energy, green technology, and development company. With clearly some of our major advantages is the clarity and line of sight that FFI provides into the future macro global demand trends for not only green energy, but also green metals and minerals.
FFI's web of country and regional leaders, established when hardly anyone else was traveling during the entire reign of COVID on our planet, has not only identified very serious opportunities in energy, but also minerals, as you can see with Gabon, with Belinga. It's the FFI team, global team, feeds trends and analysis for all metals, minerals, and energy demand worldwide to the entire group. Our family value continues under this philosophy and binds us together. We are Fortescue. We will harness our We Are Fortescue delivery models across our growing overseas portfolio for both green energy and metals. A philosophy and a set of values that whether projects are big or small, Australian or global, they work. We'll supply each other. We'll supply the world, literally becoming a powerhouse in where the world's greatest need is, to go green, to supply the energy, and supply the metals.
Of course, leading by this example, sharing our green fuels and innovative green technology with the world, we will drive the elimination of global emissions that threaten all nature and all humanity. In this process, we'll generate substantial value for all shareholders. Team, as we move into FY 2023, we have one combined mission, to commercially destroy global warming while creating an even stronger global business. Handing over to you, Elizabeth.
Thank you, Andrew. Turning to safety, I want to commend the entire team for continuing to look out for their mates on our journey to zero harm. Our total recordable injury frequency rate continues to improve, with the team achieving our lowest TRIFR of 1.8. This was against the backdrop of another challenging year, with multiple COVID lockdowns in Western Australia and across the nation. Of course, we cannot forget the tragic passing of our team member, David Armstrong, as a result of an incident at the Solomon Hub on the 30th of September. The health and safety of all of our team members is our highest priority. This event has been devastating for the entire Fortescue family, and David is missed by all of those who worked with him.
The fatality is a very sharp reminder of why safety is our highest focus, and we're working with David's family to facilitate a memorial to recognize David's passing and his contribution to the Fortescue family. During the year, the industry also faced some confronting truths as we worked to better understand people's experiences of sexual harassment at mining operations in Western Australia. The findings from the Western Australian Parliamentary inquiry were deeply concerning for the industry. At Fortescue, we have a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, harassment, and discrimination. Through our ongoing workplace integrity review, we continue to implement a range of initiatives to further enhance the health and well-being of all team members, aligned with our unique culture, which embraces diversity and inclusiveness.
Safety will remain at the heart of our culture and values, and we will continue to empower everyone at Fortescue to take control and look out for their mates on our journey to zero harm. On to the FY 2022 results, the strong performance by the team across the entire supply chain contributed to our highest ever annual shipments of 189 million tons, exceeding the top end of guidance. This contributed to revenue of AUD 17.4 billion and net profit after tax of AUD 6.2 billion, which is the second highest in Fortescue's history. Reflecting our focus on cost management and ongoing investments in innovation and technology, we've maintained our industry-leading cost position with C1 costs for FY 2022 of AUD 15.91 a ton.
Reflecting this outstanding performance and our strong commitment to delivering shareholder returns, we have today announced a final dividend of AUD 1.21 per share, and this, along with our interim dividend of AUD 0.86, represents total dividends of AUD 2.07, which is a payout ratio of 75% of full-year NPAT and represents distributions to shareholders of AUD 6.4 billion. This dividend distribution is consistent with our stated intent to target the upper end of our policy to pay out a range of 50%-80% of NPAT. Sustainability is integrated in all aspects of Fortescue's business, and we are committed to ensuring that communities continue to benefit from our growth and development as we take a global leadership position in the green energy transition.
Today, we also released our FY 2022 sustainability report and our separate climate change report. The sustainability report details Fortescue's performance against key material sustainability commitments and targets and forms a critical component of our business strategy. Our continued commitment to empowering thriving communities was demonstrated by our delivery of AUD 27.6 billion in total global economic contribution this year, and that included AUD 5.3 billion in taxes, state royalties, and other government payments.
We continue to see the enormous benefits that Fortescue's success has provided to our communities, and this is evident through initiatives such as our Billion Opportunities program, which has resulted in more than AUD 4 billion in contracts and subcontracts awarded to Aboriginal businesses since the initiative was launched in 2011. We're proud to be one of Australia's largest employers of Aboriginal people, representing 10% of our Australian workforce and 15% of our Pilbara operations. I believe our inclusive, diverse culture has strongly influenced Fortescue's industry-leading performance, and I'm proud that we continue to lead from the front with 50% female representation on our board of directors and a diverse management team with women representing 27% of senior leadership. We know that diversity delivers the best results.
It is not just the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do. As an industry, we have a responsibility to ensure as many women as possible have the opportunity to participate in and make a strong contribution to the resources sector. Increasing female employment remains a key priority for Fortescue. I'm really pleased that since 2020, so that's only over the last two years, the number of females employed at Fortescue has increased by 60%. Fortescue is transitioning to an integrated global green energy and resources company. For our size and scale, there is no other mining company in the world that is taking the action we are to eliminate emissions. We've set a target to decarbonize our operations by 2030, two decades earlier than commitments made by most of the mining industry globally.
We've set a target to achieve net zero Scope 3 emissions by 2040. Fortescue Future Industries is the key enabler of these targets, with a range of heavy industry decarbonization initiatives underway to eliminate our reliance on fossil fuels. We're already seeing the benefits of our decarbonization initiatives through the energization of the 60 MW Chichester Solar Gas Hybrid project, which has displaced 78 million liters of diesel usage in FY 2022. We're investing in renewable energy through Pilbara Energy Connect, which includes transmission infrastructure, hybrid solar gas generation, and large-scale battery storage. On that note, I'm absolutely delighted to hand over to Mark Hutchinson, CEO of FFI, to say a few words. Mark.
Good. Thank you very much, Elizabeth. Can I take a moment to acknowledge your invaluable contribution to Fortescue? Your hard work and successes have helped place this company in the best position it can be to take the actions needed to now eliminate emissions. By virtue of this, Fortescue is not only leading by example, but it has also already begun its transition into the global green energy resources and technology company of tomorrow that you described. Today, Fortescue's assets and infrastructure rival the best in the world, and it's from this outstanding platform that we're now positioned to see its growth through FFI. Australia's largest export is iron ore, but our other major export is emissions.
FFI will lead the world in eliminating emissions from heavy industry, starting with the decarbonization of Fortescue's own operations, while driving the establishment of a new market for renewables, greener energy that can replace fossil fuels. FFI will build on Fortescue's reputation for operational excellence and capital discipline, and we are absolutely committed to maintaining Fortescue's strong balance sheet. I joined Fortescue Future Industries because it is clear that Fortescue is a company that lives and breathes its values. I see two clear objectives for the FFI business. The first is to provide the technology and the innovation required to eliminate Fortescue's emissions wherever possible. By significantly reducing our reliance on diesel, we'll also be reducing cost. Much of the technology we need to deliver on this, we will develop ourselves in-house. FFI, like FMG, is a serious technology company.
We will also leverage the technology that is available elsewhere. The acquisition of Williams Advanced Engineering and Fortescue's partnership with Liebherr demonstrate this. The second objective is to make green hydrogen at quality and at speed and fulfill our obligation to our customers. The work that our chairman and the FFI team have done over the past two years on the supply side of the business puts us way ahead of the game. Our focus now is on building out the demand side. We are already in a very strong position. Our MOUs with E.ON and Covestro are a fantastic base, but there is more to be done, and we are progressing towards committed offtake agreements in Europe, Asia, and the United States. There is significant global demand for the green hydrogen and green energy we will produce and for the technology that FFI is developing.
There are various estimates that green hydrogen will become a multi-trillion-dollar market. There is also considerable international capital for green projects, and the world's largest asset managers are committed to funding the climate transition. The geopolitical environment has only served to speed this up. Policy setting across Europe are helping to ensure that the production of green energy, and green hydrogen in particular, is competitive. The recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act sees the U.S. position itself as a potential green hydrogen superpower. Energy security is leading more and more countries to green energy solutions. With the rise of this new industry comes environmental benefits as well as economic ones.
Our role as a new leadership team is to ensure FFI remain at the forefront of this global movement, and that FFI takes full advantage of the huge environmental and economic opportunities that come with it. We have never been in a better shape to be able to continue to grow the business and deliver returns to Fortescue's shareholders. Our greatest asset is the speed at which we work. We've seen significant progress on a number of projects across FFI's portfolio of work during the financial year. This includes at Gladstone in Queensland, where construction of our green energy manufacturing center is well progressed, with the first electrolyzer to be manufactured next calendar year. At Gibson Island, we are working to convert Incitec Pivot's existing ammonia production facility to produce green ammonia from renewable energy, with studies progressing on this project. Our focus now is razor-sharp on project delivery.
In the short term, we'll focus on prioritizing the projects that will ensure our time, our resources, and our funds deliver the outcomes we, our customers, and our shareholders expect. I look forward to updating you on all this work in the coming months. On that note, I'd like to invite Ian to provide an update on Fortescue's financial performance.
Thanks, Mark, and hi, everyone. I'd just like to start by saying it's always a privilege to present a summary of our financial performance. You can see from our disclosures today that we've again reported a transparent and clean set of results. We generated strong earnings and cash flows in FY 2022 by remaining focused on what we can control, delivering consistent operating performance with a strong focus on cost management and capital discipline. That drives margin, cash flow generation, and return on capital. Turning to the numbers, revenue of AUD 17 billion was the second highest in the company's history and combined with strong cost discipline contributed to EBITDA of AUD 10.6 billion.
that was in an EBITDA margin of 61% and noting there was some margin compression relative to FY 2021, and that was resulting from the lower iron ore prices and the industry-wide cost inflation. That equates to an EBITDA margin of $63 per ton for the iron ore business. in fact, our average EBITDA margin in the past five years is now over $55 a ton. As we discussed in the June quarterly release, our C1 cost of production increased due to higher diesel costs, labor rates, and other consumables like ammonium nitrate.
Our FY 2023 cost guidance of 18-18.75 per ton takes all of that into account, together with the lag effect of ongoing inflationary pressures, and importantly, maintains Fortescue's industry-leading cost position. EBITDA flows through to NPAT, with NPAT of AUD 6.2 billion, which translates to U.S. dollar earnings of $2.01 per share, and in Aussie dollar terms, AUD 2.77. Those earnings provide a return on capital employed of 36% and implies a trailing P/E multiple of less than 7 times the current share price. On the next slide of the webcast shows EBITDA and NPAT waterfall relative to FY 2021, and you can see all the moving parts, including the impacts of volume, price, and costs.
Another point to note is that FFI's incurred expenditure increased to AUD 386 million, and that's reflecting the increased activity from AUD 104 million in the prior year. We move to cash flow. As a reminder, FY 2022 net operating cash flow of AUD 6.6 billion included the payment of the prior period final FY 2021 tax installment of AUD 900 million. A point to note that during the year, we varied our installment rates to better align cash flow with earnings, and therefore, we don't expect these timing differences going forward. FY 2022 CapEx was AUD 3.1 billion. Free cash flow generation was AUD 3.6 billion.
When we compare that with AUD 6.2 billion of net profit after tax, free cash flow was lower due to two key items. The one billion prior year tax payment that I mentioned earlier, and the second point is CapEx is AUD 1.5 billion higher than depreciation as we continue to invest back into the business and invest in growth. That investment will be reflected in an increase in depreciation year-on-year, of course, as Iron Bridge transitions to operations. As discussed on the June quarterly call, our FY 2023 CapEx is a range of AUD 2.7 billion-AUD 3.1 billion, excluding FFI. Fortescue's balance sheet remains strong, with cash on hand of AUD 5.2 billion at 30th of June.
This includes reserve cash of AUD 2.6 billion for the final dividend, which will be paid next month, and AUD 1.1 billion committed to FFI, both in accordance with our capital allocation framework. Gross debt increased to AUD 6.1 billion. That was following the drawdown of AUD 400 million from our term loan facility and the completion of a AUD 1.5 billion offering of senior notes, which importantly included Fortescue's inaugural green bond issue of AUD 800 million. If you're on the webcast, we've shown our credit metrics remain well inside of our targeted investment grade levels, which are gross debt to EBITDA of 1-2x and gross gearing of 30%-40% through the cycle.
That means we have balance sheet capacity to fund future growth and will continue to proactively manage our debt maturity profile and also look to optimize our debt capital structure. On shareholder returns, the fully franked final dividend declared by the board takes the FY 2022 total dividend to AUD 2.07 per share. That implies a fully franked dividend yield of more than 10% on the current share price.
That capital return is consistent with our capital allocation framework, which, as a reminder, incorporates the four pillars of reinvesting in the business, maintaining a strong balance sheet, capital returns to shareholders, and investing in growth, and that includes the allocation of 10% of NPAT to fund FFI. FFI's anticipated expenditure this year is AUD 600-700 million, inclusive of AUD 100 million capital expenditure and AUD 500-600 million, which we recognized as an operating expense. To reiterate, FFI's projects will be funded with project finance separately secured through the substantial market demand for green investments, noting the widespread investor interest in FFI across a full spectrum of investors, ranging from retail through to institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds, and right across the whole capital structure. Discipline capital allocation is a core competency and really important for us.
For us, that comes back to doing what we say we're going to do, and that's evident on the slide. You can see on the webcast that since FY 2014, so that's over the past nine years, Fortescue has generated over AUD 45 billion of net operating cash flow. We've reinvested AUD 14 billion back into the business and into growth. We've repaid over AUD 7 billion of debt on a net basis and declared nearly AUD 22 billion of dividends, and that represents over AUD 9 per share and equates to an average payout of almost 70% of net profit since 2014. In closing, you can see we're really proud of delivering the second strongest financial result in the company's history, underpinned by record operational performance.
This is a result of focusing on the things that we can control, consistent and predictable operating performance, strong cost management, and disciplined cost allocation. On that note, Elizabeth, I'll hand it back to you.
Thanks very much, Ian. In summary, we've achieved outstanding results in FY 2022, with record shipments contributing to the second-highest earnings and operating cash flow in Fortescue's history. Through the Iron Bridge Magnetite Project and FFI, we're investing in the growth of our iron ore operations, as well as pursuing ambitious global opportunities in iron ore, renewable energy, and green industries. We've already seen a strong start to FY 2023, and we remain agile and responsive to market conditions to ensure that we remain a reliable supplier of iron ore to our customers. On behalf of Fortescue's board and executives, I'd like to thank the entire Fortescue family for their contributions in FY 2022. Our success is truly a testament to their hard work and dedication.
By keeping safety and family at the heart of everything we do, I know that we will continue to position ourselves for future success. On that note, I'll hand back to Ashley to facilitate Q&A. Thank you.
Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. If you're on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. In the interest of time, we ask that you limit to two questions per person. Please press star one to rejoin the queue if you wish to ask further questions. Your first question comes from Hayden Bairstow with Macquarie. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Andrew, Elizabeth and Ian, and the rest of the team. Just a couple of questions on capital, if I may. The first one just on the iron ore business. Just keen to understand, obviously this year we've got the rest of Iron Bridge in sort of the growth CapEx, but and we can understand the sustaining outlook in iron ore, but just keen to get a feel for, you know, hub development and growth CapEx, you know, 2024, 2025 as we work towards Nyidinghu, how that might, what sort of range we should be thinking about how that might grow over and above sustaining for that period. The second one's on FFI, a similar sort of question.
You've got a sort of base cost now we can see in operating costs for FFI, but again, that CapEx allocation within that sort of guidance for 2023, is that likely to step up materially in the next couple of years as you start advancing some of these projects? Thanks.
Ian, did you want to take that first one?
Yeah, just on the first one, Hayden, that, as we discussed at the quarterly, our sustaining capital really is driven by mine plan and then the reinvestment in the existing assets and maintaining availability, which drives production. The small hubs will continue for a little bit longer and, we spoke about Nyidinghu and an investment decision for Nyidinghu, later in the decade, you know, around in the middle of the decade, around FY 2025. Then the other thing to consider is our, probably the next most material item is the fleet replacement cycle. Of course, that fleet replacement cycle, we're aligning with our decarbonization initiatives. Clearly that kicks off around the middle of the decade as well. They're kind of the key moving parts, and FFI CapEx.
Yeah, Mark here, Hayden. Yes, look, the guidance we're given on CapEx for this year will be, you know, I think will be within that, but actually it steps up over the coming years. I'll just say that there's enormous amount of capital out there looking to invest in projects that we're gonna do. It's how we manage that capital going forward, in light of, you know, tapping into that big source of funding for the projects we're gonna do.
Okay, great. Thanks for that.
Your next question comes from Lyndon Fagan with JP Morgan. Please go ahead.
Thanks very much. I'd like to ask Mark and Andrew about FFI, if I may. I guess the first one is really just a high-level question on how you would tell the market to value FFI. I mean, we've got AUD 600-700 million out the door this year, but at this stage, we don't really have a project list to try and value or any real assets that we can attribute to this major amount of spend, which I imagine ratchets up materially over the coming. I guess in addition to that, I'm wondering if the 15 million tons of hydrogen target by 2030 still stands. You know, we're seven years away from that. We'd need to be half of that in sort of three years to even meet that.
I'm wondering if you can try and help frame that target. That was the first question. Thanks.
I saw a number of first questions in that first question. I mean, if you can imagine, it does amaze me how forgiving iron ore analysts are when you've got massive iron ore deposits and guaranteed markets and the technology to get it into market. Even though you're not in production, you've proven the resource, you've proven your market. If you can imagine that Lyndon x 130, that's how I see FFI. I haven't ever tried to value the company, but I've had expressions of interest made to me by fund of fund managers, by big infrastructure managers. They've talked around $20 billion. I say that just 'cause you're all professional analysts, and that is discussion.
That's the kind of overture given to me to try and entice us to list FFI, which I don't think is in Fortescue's best interest 'cause the integration we have is bearing such serious fruit. And the two together have, gives us the greatest opportunity of being that world lead, that world example, that a heavy industry company can actually materially reduce its operating costs, materially improve its margins by going green, by not smoking billions of dollars of cash each year in fossil fuel, but rather creating it, not only ourselves, but exporting it, along with the technology and the know-how to everywhere else. And we don't intend, Lyndon, to lose value on that. We don't tend to be the Xerox who invented everything and had Apple steal the show.
We are very careful about capturing the value for our shareholders, but making sure we drive the commercial destruction of climate change, of global warming while building a really valuable business, as you can see by the conversations which I've had. Hutch, for the more granular.
Yeah. On the 15 million tons, I'd answer it two ways actually, Lyndon. I think on the supply side, like, you know, I've been very fortunate in to come into this business where Andrew, Elizabeth and the team done an amazing job of scouring the world for projects for us to work with. You know, we have plenty of projects to pick which ones we need to do to fill the supply side. On the demand side, you know, we already have a 5 million ton MOU with E.ON, and there's others in the works as well. I see no issue at all with the demand side at all. I think, you know, the 15 million tons still stands for 2030.
If you kinda think about how big our market is ahead of us, it's kind of the replacement of the entire fossil fuel, you know, network globally. It's kind of, you know, it's almost like going back to 1907 when BP and Shell were formed actually. You know, probably people then said, "Oh, you guys are crazy. It's never gonna work." You know, the history has told us that differently. We're at that inflection point now, actually. We've got a massive market ahead of us. I'm very confident that the 15 billion, 15 million tons, sorry, not billion, will be there.
The scale of 15 million tons is really serious, team. It's over a third of the calorific energy which Germany used to import from Russia. It's meaningful, team.
Thanks very much for that discussion. A quick follow-up. Andrew, you've spoken before about the green steel opportunity and the meeting you had with analysts, which is a couple of years ago now. You talked about a flow sheet at low temperature that the CSIRO was working on, and it felt like at the time you'd cracked the code there. We really haven't heard anything since. I'm wondering if you're able to share where that's up to and whether the trial plant that was proposed is going ahead and what the opportunity there is. Thanks.
The trial plant is going ahead. We did crack the code. We did produce iron metal green. We are still assessing to ensure that it can come in as we do at the lowest end of the cost curve. We're not gonna bring in a product which is, which is at the wrong end of the cost curve. We need to be hyper competitive when we enter a market. We're also looking at ways, further ways. We're not losing focus on that, but just extending focus that we can leap from that to or actually from iron ore straight into green steel. We have other horses in the race and we're not losing touch with any of them, but that is the way of new technology breakthroughs.
Thanks very much.
Your next question comes from Kaan Peker with Royal Bank of Canada. Please go ahead.
Hi, Andrew, Elizabeth, Mark, Ian, and team. Two questions from me. The first one is on FFI. I think last year, Andrew, you mentioned that FFI's investments were split into four priorities, one of those being green fleet development. However, Williams Advanced Engineering was acquired under FMG, not FFI. Just wondering why it wasn't funded by FFI. Are there any of the 120 projects flagged in the annual report that will be funded by FMG, such as the Infinity Train?
Well, of course, we don't see anything divisive between FFI and FMG. We're the one family, one organization. FFI is brought into existence 'cause it needs to roll at a different speed and culture, which would not be optimal for a very large, highly proficient operating company yet. When it does, we will make that evolution. Look, we see Williams as just being such a natural fit for FMG because the first cab off the rank is the Infinity Train. We use battery energy to send the train back up the hill. Never any external source of energy nor external source of pollution.
It is continuing to yield dividends because we now have a large-scale battery source, and I don't know any other major industry which is challenged by energy storage which has that, but we do. We're also looking at the stock standard, perhaps the elephant in the room, stored pumped hydro energy in pumped hydro. Clearly we have the elevation we need around our operations to make our organization green with another form of battery, which is natural. So all of these things are in the mix and we will continue to push ahead with green fleet 'cause it's how we will make our organization green by 2030, and there'll be further information we'll release on this. I think I've covered the bulk of your question. Hutch, did you wanna add anything?
No, I think if we look at our kind of project list, I think we've got a lot ahead of us and very excited to, you know, come back to you in a few months' time to take you through some of those, and we'll be making announcements by the end of the year on some.
Sure. Thank you. The second question was on the iron ore business, particularly around the reserve and resources. Just on the Solomon Hub increase, in terms of reserves, talk about a revenue factor forecast or that increase in revenue factor. I was wondering what that specifically was referring to. Is that internal iron ore forecasts or FX? On the Chichester Hub, there was talk about metallurgical factor change. Was that relating to the OPFs? Thanks.
Yeah, look, I think in terms of Solomon, that would be some of our internal assumptions, whether that's iron ore price or FX. That goes into the model. Chichester, something Andy will come back and give you a bit more detail around that, Kaan, in terms of, it's probably more around strip ratio, densities. We can give you some more information.
Sure. Thank you. I'll pass it on.
Your next question comes from Robert Stein with CLSA. Please go ahead.
Hi, team. First off, congratulations, Elizabeth, on your achievements in the role, and best of luck in the future.
Thanks, Robert.
Just got a few questions on growth. Mark, it's good to have you on the call to be able to focus a bit of the Q&A on hydrogen. Just leveraging that opportunity. Noting your comments in the FT and the need for Europe to subsidize H2 investment, how dependent are the economics of bulk H2 importing to Europe on government subsidies? And is that a risk should governments redeploy investment into other energy sources such as nuclear or direct renewables? I kind of watch this space without those subsidies. I've got a second question.
Look, thanks, Robert. Like, look, I think I'll answer that by looking at the United States first. I mean, the subsidy on green hydrogen in the United States is historic, actually, because it makes it competitive with gray hydrogen. I think other places around the world should really take note. We kind of I come from the renewables world, part of my world at GE, and it's like going back to when, you know, the renewables market started. That impetus from government to get the industry going was really important because then you got scale and you could then, you know, smash through the cost of renewables to where they are today. The same thing is gonna happen to green hydrogen.
Now, it doesn't mean that it's uncompetitive because there's a demand out there, you know, for the product, and we're gonna work through it with the Europeans. Certainly, you know, as I said in the Financial Times there, I really hope that Europe takes note and does something because they need it more than anybody at the moment.
I guess just noting that those subsidies then flowing through to slash costs, if that does reduce sort of barriers to entry, what makes, you know, say, for example, Australian hydrogen exports competitive in that type of framework, noting the high transportation costs and the couple of times you have to handle it to overcome those energy barriers?
Yeah. Look, Australia plays a huge part just because of the sheer size of what we can do here. I think, you know, America is gonna be very, very focused on their own domestic and, you know, economy. Initially, you know, they're probably not gonna think about, you know, exporting. I think Australia has this opportunity to really become a green hydrogen powerhouse.
The cost, you know, the more scale we get, the cost is gonna come down and become more competitive.
Your next question comes from John Tumazos.
Sorry.
John Tumazos with Very Independent Research.
Thank you very much. Can you give us a little bit of guidance as to when we could see sales revenue from green ammonia or battery haul trucks, other revenues so we can begin to place a value on FFI?
Yeah. Thanks, John. Look, we're putting a lot of focus instead, as I raised, the focus on, you know, getting ahead with making green hydrogen. I'm really hoping that we'll have some available 2024-2025 timeframe. You can really run it from how quickly we complete our Gladstone electrolyzer factory. The world's short of electrolyzers, as soon as we have them, we'll start making hydrogen shortly afterwards.
Just on the green haul trucks, John, the priority will be actually Fortescue for our own decarbonization. That won't necessarily generate a revenue stream, but it's a part of our fleet replacement. What we'll see is the elimination of diesel and the benefits that will flow from that. Keeping our costs low will be one of the benefits. It may not be a revenue line at that point in time, but it'll certainly be helping to contribute to lower costs. Over time, that technology will certainly be able to be commercialized.
I think I'd add the demand side, Mark's points on demand side, you know, once these haul truck green haul trucks there and the battery solutions provided by Williams Advanced Engineering, clearly the demand is there's no supply. That's another example of not being too concerned about the demand side.
Your next question comes from Lachlan Shaw with UBS. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, Andrew and Elizabeth. First, Elizabeth, congratulations, well done and best of luck in the future. Just a couple of questions from me. Again, just on FFI and I guess hydrogen. Hydrogen is quite challenging to store and transport at reasonable costs. Just interested to understand, you know, how you're looking at the R&D and technology roadmap to try and innovate and to try and bring those costs down. Not just green ammonia, but more generally across the value chain.
Look, there's a number of ways to transport hydrogen. I think I'll start with the United States, where, you know, in that domestic market, there's the infrastructure available to not only produce near your customers, but also use the existing infrastructure to do that. That's a different answer than maybe the rest of the world where we have to ship it. When you ship, you have to convert it to green ammonia, green methane, and we're working with our customers to really understand what they want actually. You know, the innovations, you know, we're working on that. It's a big part of the equation, and that's one of the many projects we have at the moment to make sure we can deliver in a cost-effective manner to our customers.
Right.
Your next question comes from Glyn Lawcock with Barrenjoey. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Andrew. Andrew, just a couple of questions for yourself. Firstly, could you maybe help me understand how you delineate between projects that go into FMG versus, say, Wyloo? You know, it sounds like FMG maybe has missed out on a couple opportunities that I thought might have fitted better to them. I'm thinking like Noront. Then secondly, just your thoughts on the new CEO. Is that still something you're pursuing? You know, and should we expect a CEO for FMG sometime this year? Thanks.
Thanks, Glyn. Great questions. No, look, Wyloo's been there to catch projects which FMG have made a decision not to pursue. If we believe, like Squadron Energy, that they're better off within the group, particularly for knowledge like Clarke Creek or Sun Cable. Noront's a good example. There's a 500-km road there, which our analysts at the time believed wouldn't be built, so that would be a stranded asset, potentially worthless. Next election comes along, and of course, the government says, "Actually, we wanna build a road to free industry for all those native people in that massive region." If you like, it follows a very strict Fortescue first policy.
I know Elizabeth will be delighted to give you details of that, but it is a very strict Fortescue first policy. We will let projects go through to the market unless we think there's strategic value in them staying within the group, and then Tattarang will spend its own funds to keep it within the group. We've had very real benefit from that as Fortescue Metals. Secondly, the chief executive search, Glyn. To be brutal, it's not our highest priority. It's a wonderful priority. We are seeing fantastic people. But we have, if you like, appointments which we wanna make, which are even more important to the evolution of a global green metals and green energy company. We're not gonna be rushed.
I know there's been a bit of media attention around it, but look, they don't run the company. They're not our shareholders. The shareholders have signaled to us very directly, very firmly, that they're perfectly happy with the leadership of this company as it is. I do intend to appoint a chief executive, but I don't intend to be rushed into it. I will continue to build, Glyn, as I promised, on the resignation of Elizabeth, and you will recall that we said we needed 10-12 fantastic leaders to allow Fortescue to properly emerge as to what the world really needs. That's been our priority. We started Fortescue Metals Group on that basis and the Fortescue organization, and we'll continue on that basis.
We believe the world needs, Glyn, a global powerhouse in green energy and green metals, and the provider of the technology to bridge those gaps and send the mining industry and eventually what has to happen, Glyn. We don't have a choice about this, mate. Global heavy industry has to go green, otherwise you just cook your kids, mate. I do wanna say that we are rolling ahead, but we have critical appointments which we will announce in the future, and one of them could well be the Fortescue Metals Chief Executive. We aren't in a hurry.
All right. Thanks, Andrew.
Your next question comes from Kaan Peker with Royal Bank of Canada. Please go ahead.
Hi, Andrew, Elizabeth, team. Thanks for taking my follow-up. Just another quick one on FFI. Those are proposed Asian Renewable Energy Hub. It's located in the Pilbara. They were talking about a design capacity of 15 GW of renewable capacity, and they had indicated a cost of around AUD 25 billion-AUD 30 billion. Should we view this similar to the capital intensity of the projects being proposed in the renewable space by FFI?
Look, I think we're working through the cost of what we're trying to do at the moment. I wouldn't use that as a benchmark at all, actually. You know, we're gonna look at the most cost-effective way to make green hydrogen. The enormity of what is needed on the power side is just huge, actually. You're talking, you know, many gigawatts of power. Finding the most cost-effective power around the world, including Australia, is our priority at the moment. We look forward to coming back to you on that in the not too distant future.
Kaan, I need to be very clear. We've made serious breakthroughs in how to produce electrolyzers and the like, and we're not rushing into our first project because we want it to be hyper competitive when we do. It tooks a long while to get Fortescue to the lowest operating cost in the world for iron ore, and we intend to be that with green energy.
I might just remind everyone that Eliwana was built for a capital intensity of around AUD 43 a ton versus a recently completed project elsewhere in the Pilbara that was more like AUD 79 a ton. I think we've demonstrated time and again that we're able to have the lowest capital intensity, and we do that through being innovative and applying all of our thinking and learnings to each project.
Sure. Understood. Thank you. Just one last one. I think this one would probably sort of be for Ian, but just on the balance sheet, we've seen, I think about [audio distortion]470 mil of long-term iron ore stockpiles build. Just wondering what that was in.
Yeah. Kaan, that was we made that change at the half year, and that's basically running those stockpiles through the life of mine model, and they won't be mined in the next 12 months. That's the definition of a non-current asset using it in 12 months. That's more of a technical answer, and that's why you've seen it there. I'd note that we made that change at half year.
Your next question comes from Peter O'Connor with Shaw and Partners. Please go ahead.
Elizabeth, congratulations and wish you well and great job done. Mark, great to have you on the call.
Yeah.
Just thinking about the supply side ahead, and you talked about demand. Totally agree with where demand's coming from and you've got a lot of things to build. We talk on a lot of these calls about inflationary pressures, both in dollar terms and also just sourcing labor, but the right labor. Could you just talk to the sourcing of skills, labor, parts, goods, services, et cetera, to do this build? Is that the bottleneck? How does that look and how does that play out?
Look, Peter, thanks very much, and I'm very happy to be here and talking to you today. I think I'm very blessed to come into this business where, you know, Andrew, Elizabeth, and the team has scoured the world for projects. We have, you know, over 100 different projects to choose from to make a business from. I think, as I said, I'm quite fortunate to have that position, so I can get to choose where we actually make the green hydrogen. I think on the inflation side, obviously it's a concern, but, you know, the demand side, it's challenging us to get going, you know, very quickly.
If anything, the thing I'm concerned about is the supply of equipment, because just the enormity of what we have to do, and you look at what the world makes now, we need a lot of supply. You know, one thing we're doing is focusing very much on what's available in the marketplace, but also, you know, as I mentioned in the earlier discussion was, what can we actually do ourselves? That's gonna be a very important part of the equation, and that's why we talk about really evolving into a much bigger technology company going forward.
Your next question comes from Saul Kavonic with Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Well, I just have a couple of quick questions, centering around obviously the election of the new ALP government. The first one's around what do you see is the risk profile regarding union negotiations under the new government? The second one is regarding the proposed changes to the Safeguard Mechanism and the 43% emissions reduction target by 2030, and what the risks are to costs to meet that in the near term. What do you see as the opportunities perhaps on a longer-term horizon?
Well, maybe I'll start with the union negotiations. Look, I think there's a skills summit this week. Fortunately for Fortescue, Andrew's going to be at that skills summit, and I think that sort of is an opportunity to set some of those discussions around, we need to attract skills to Australia. We need people to be, you know, trained to transition to green energy in particular. Yeah, skills and unions are part of this discussion. They're gonna be there at the skills summit. This is part of actually collectively understanding what's in the best interests of our economy and for the workforce. From our perspective, that risk profile is actually very low because we don't have a unionized workforce. We have our own enterprise bargaining arrangements.
We have very little engagement with unions and so I think from a Fortescue risk profile that risk is low. Importantly, we want to have settings in place that really do attract people with those right skills who can actually help us transition. One of the things we know is we're an employer of choice, and we are attracting great talent like Mark because of the vision that's been set for our transition from a resources company to a resources and green energy company. We're seeing great traction in the labor market.
Saul, I'd add to that, mate, that it's Andrew here, that unions are always welcome on any Fortescue operational construction site.
Mm.
They can rock on in any time they like. It's just when they get there's not a lot to do. You know, as they get told by our workers all throughout our operations, if they wanna contact Elizabeth, if they wanna contact the chairman, well, they've got the number, they've got the email address, they can just do it. There isn't a big role for intermediaries.
Your next question comes from Lyndon Fagan with JP Morgan. Please go ahead.
Thanks again. Andrew, I was just fascinated by the AUD 20 billion valuation that you were talking about in relation to FFI. I'm just wondering how that was arrived at again. I might have missed it initially. I think you said it was some fund managers or something that put that to you, but it'd be great to explore that a bit more. The second question was just on the zero-emission mining trucks. I'm wondering which solution we're heading in for that direction. Is it a hydrogen fuel cell, or is it more likely to be a full battery electric solution in terms of the first trucks that appear on a Fortescue mine site? Thanks.
Yeah, thanks, Lyndon. I made clear it was a solicitation from a very large group to ask me to consider separately listing FFI, and I've described to you all why we didn't pursue that solicitation. I do see, Lyndon, that you don't see the immense value in FFI, and that'll just have to come clear over time. I have drawn the analogy, which is accurate, that if you imagine a whole bunch of ore bodies which have been established, that's what we have in our 120 projects, where in the process, you can't do it for chopped liver and by the other day. These are really big projects.
When you have immense markets for that product, you now need to have the technology which is going to be competitive and which is uncontroversial in the banking community, in the project finance and infrastructure investment community, uncontroversial technology to link that ore body or green energy to the marketplace. That's precisely what we're doing, and institutions who really get where the future of world energy has to come from. Remember, Lyndon, this is not a choice. You know, we can screw around, you know, arguing about the economics, but at the end of the day, when global warming really begins to hit, and we've only just seen the start of it, there isn't a choice about this. I do see that there's a very strong market.
Those customers from Europe who have come to Australia to who have looked at our projects that said, "We've got one issue. You know, you're likely to sell to Asia because it's on the way to Europe, where we really wanna make sure that we tie you guys up to make sure you get past what will be huge Asian markets in order to get to what is, for us, an existential risk, which is green energy into Europe." In terms of the mining trucks, we're a little energy agnostic here, Lyndon. We have a huge head start with batteries. You can see that by the Infinity Train. You can see it by the confidence which we have with 120 huge world-leading autonomous trucks being delivered without a power source. We supply that power source.
It is likely to be batteries because we could solve that straight away. We have the technology. We have the know-how. We can do it at once. Will we exclude a fuel cell? Absolutely not. There's huge symmetry in a source of hydrogen to a store of electricity in creating long-term green power. I'd just say we have a plan B, Lyndon, which is bulletproof, which is batteries. We're not ruling out the plan A.
Andrew, if I might just add, it could well be, Lyndon, that a hydrogen fuel cell is more efficient and effective for long-haul distances and battery electric for short-haul distances.
Mm-hmm.
The fact that we have both options and we're exploring both options is actually a benefit to our ongoing mining operations.
Your next question comes from Robert Stein with CLSA. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity for a follow-up. Just maybe asking the question I asked earlier from a different perspective. If I get transmission losses in trying to transport the renewable energy generated in the Pilbara to Europe, why would I not get a better economic return by building renewable infrastructure closer to the end market? That's just something I'm trying to understand in terms of being able to value Fortescue's Australian proposals or potential projects in relation to, you know, potential hydrogen projects elsewhere.
Robert, I think, you know, we are looking at projects in Europe and you're right to, you know, think about that it's probably where you start actually, because it's obviously closer. I think, you know, we see that there's gonna be great demand for green hydrogen from around the world, including Asia, as Andrew mentioned. Australia will play a big part in that. Now I think the only issue in Europe you have is that it's more challenged on, you know, producing the green energy at scale that probably Australia can. Initially I think maybe some of the projects will be in Europe.
Just given the scale of what needs to happen, this is a massive opportunity for Australia actually to become almost the Saudi Arabia of, you know, the green energy world. We know we're doing both.
Thank you.
Your next question comes from Peter O'Connor with Shaw and Partners. Please go ahead.
Andrew, could I try and marry a philosophical concept with an accounting one? Just taking on board your comments from I think two questions ago where you said, "We have to do this. We have no choice. This is an existential issue," which I agree with and I totally understand. Does that mean the first segment of addressing Fortescue Scope 1, Scope 2, Scope 3 emissions is sustaining capital?
It's a really good question. I'm gonna look at that. Rocky, that's a hell of a good idea, mate. I'm not sure if those much more intelligent than I am have already thought of it within Fortescue. Rocky, I would say that these projects will lead to a very long tail of franked dividends because they will put a lot of capital. Rocky, while you're there, you have been watching the iron ore global industry seriously, and you'd have seen Simandou and all the tribulations, the billions of dollars which have been absolutely barbecued in the pursuit of that project, which is now in a country under the control of a military junta.
You know, I just look at that and think we have Belinga, which is for scale and value easily the comparable of Simandou. It didn't cost us billions. It didn't cost us even a fraction that. We paid for it with our reputation. The president of the country asked who FFI was. He wanted his country to go green, not just watch other companies do it, and was told that they're also the best mining company in the world. We were invited into that country to develop that project, which has had a cacophony of other suitors. The government chose us in joint venture with one of their largest employers and investors.
That will be a huge project, which will be, I think, just a complete answer to Simandou for Fortescue. But don't also discount, Rocky and analysts, that in Fortescue in the Pilbara, we have a string of excellent growth projects as well. I just wanted to say don't take your eye off iron ore. Yes, the energy business will give us massive leverage to the world going green, and we're seeing it right now.
Peter, I might just add as well on that question on sustaining capital, which is a really good one. We are actually aligning the greening of the fleet to our fleet replacement cycle. That will naturally be part of sustaining capital because we were going to need to replace that fleet anyway. We're already thinking along those lines. That's another good reminder.
Rocky, you know, we chop through, like all the others, a few billion dollars a year in fossil fuels. We literally smoke it. It will be a great day, and I think a serious revenue and margin-improving day when we've made all our own fuels.
I think the return on investment is slightly different to sustaining capital insofar as there's a cost offset, plus also an enhancement, a potential enhancement in revenue. While Eliwana, we looked at a replacement mine, which is akin to sustaining, but remembering that Eliwana added production. We actually internally thought about it, and we talked to the market about Eliwana being a growth project.
Mm-hmm.
I know my view, Chairman, is that the decarbonization is.
Mm-hmm
More akin to growth than sustaining. The replacement of the vehicles is clearly sustaining, but we're also lining that up from an efficiency perspective. Maybe it's a hybrid.
Yeah, it's a hybrid. It's like I used to get asked, will you go for capital growth or income? I've said both.
Yeah.
In your case, Rocky, it'll be both.
Yeah.
Thank you. That is all the time we have for questions today. I'll now hand back to Andrew Forrest for closing remarks.
Well, thanks, team. I really appreciate you guys paying so much attention. I can't miss this with your attention to thank Elizabeth again for her immense contribution to Fortescue over the last decade odd. You have shown Elizabeth without any doubt that, you know, women aren't better than men and men aren't better than women, but the diversity of thought is irreplaceable in vibrant organizations like ours. You have brought that. You've been a fantastic Chief Financial Officer when you joined and Non-Executive Director before that. As Chief Executive, you've shot the lights out.
I just wanna thank you for the immense contribution you've made to our company's history to date, and then say from stepping down to stepping back up to global ambassador, we're really gonna need you to let the world know that this green energy, green hydrogen solution is on its doorstep and it's walking in. Your track record in guiding our operation leadership through autonomy, advanced tech, sophisticated major projects, analysts. Just think through this for a second. Our trucks, which are autonomous, right? They are straight against the profit and loss. You know, they literally, if you added them all up, they go around Australia a couple of times each day in terms of kilometers run. If you add them up a bit further, our autonomous distance has gone to the moon and back 125x .
If you take it a bit further in a couple of year time, we'd have even made it to the sun. This is a company which you've driven to be at the technical edge of the mining industry and of course, perfect then to go green. Elizabeth, I'd like it recorded that I see you, and we all do in Fortescue, as one of Australia's truly inspiring leaders. Your integrity and respect will be with us always. You are the perfect role model to be our global ambassador, and we wish you super well in coming back. Thank you, Elizabeth.
Thank you, Andrew, so much for those very kind words. You've been a true leader in really taking the lead in corporate Australia in encouraging diversity in all its forms. I'm certainly very grateful to you for your support of me on this amazing journey. It's certainly been a privilege being part of Fortescue's journey for almost a decade, and I've seen Fortescue continue to go from strength to strength. Certainly the 2022 financial year was no different, with another year of outstanding performance. I'm truly excited about the future and being Global Green Ambassador is just such a privilege. It's no secret that our success would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of our people. This isn't about one person.
This is about thousands of people who show their commitment every day to our strong culture and values. I again thank them for their contributions to this outstanding set of results. Thank you, everyone. Thanks for joining in. Stay safe, take care, and we'll see you soon.