BHP chairman Ken MacKenzie's maiden speech, in which he insisted the company's board sets BHP's course and that it "must maintain a relentless focus on driving value and returns", has been welcomed by investors and been seen as containing messages directed at activist investor Elliott Management.
Mr MacKenzie's focus on shareholders, acknowledgement of past mistakes and the evolution of the board went down well with investors, with one saying, "now it's the time for action".
Mr MacKenzie, who became chairman just seven weeks ago, made his remarks at BHP's annual general meeting in London on Thursday night (Australia time) to shareholders, which included representatives from Elliott, which is calling for significant change at the big miner.
Mr MacKenzie said he had met with more than 100 investors in eight countries during a recent "listening tour" that gave him confidence that the miner's "foundations are strong". But he acknowledged he had received both positive and negative feedback.
In some cases he said he was "challenged" by investors, who shared their own ideas for BHP and floated opportunities for the company.
But in a clear message to Elliott and other investors who have been knocking on BHP's door, Mr MacKenzie said: "While the purpose of the tour was to listen, it was not a polling exercise. It is the role of the board as the company's stewards to listen and be responsive to our stakeholders. That is the approach I believe in. But ultimately, it is up to the board to choose the course it believes will best benefit shareholders."
Despite its long-running campaign, and despite the presence of Elliott representatives at the meeting, the activist investor did not respond on Friday to Mr MacKenzie's speech, or to other remarks he made at the meeting.
Responding to a question from one shareholder who asked if it was billionaire Paul Singer, who heads Elliott, who was really running BHP, Mr MacKenzie responded that it was "Mr Mackenzie and Mr MacKenzie" who are in charge - though he did not specify the order of the pair who share the same names but with slightly different spelling.
BHP's chief executive is Andrew Mackenzie, and in recent times stories have appeared in international media speculating that his leadership could be under pressure.
But at the AGM the chairman applauded the work of his CEO over recent years and said he looked forward to continuing working together. "There is much your CEO, Andrew Mackenzie, and his leadership team have delivered over the past five years to set BHP up for success," the chairman said.
BHP investors contacted by Fairfax Media on Friday did not want to comment on relations between BHP and Elliott, but the general reaction to Mr MacKenzie's first AGM address as chairman was positive.
"It's obviously a positive sort of message that he's trying to convey, and we're supportive of what's trying to be achieved at the moment," said James Eginton, investment analyst at Tribeca Investment Partners, a large BHP shareholder.
"They're putting their faith in Andrew [Mackenzie] at this point. But I think what last night's speech really showed was the broad framework for implementing a change in the strategic direction of BHP, and acknowledging some of the failures of the past around M&A and capital return, and shareholder value creation. And allowing the management team to try to deliver a change to the strategic direction, and also a change to the culture within BHP," he said.
Robert Penazola, head of Australian Equities at Aberdeen Standard Investments, a substantial BHP shareholder, welcomed the BHP board approach to setting priorities for the miner, managing debt levels and the company's capital allocation framework.
"These are definitely all the right steps you want to have as a shareholder, and now you just want them to get on with it," he said.
