London, Feb 20, 2026, 09:19 GMT — Markets in regular session.
- Anglo American rose roughly 1.8% in early London trading after results highlighted yet another De Beers impairment.
- Miner posted a $3.7 billion loss for the year, weighed down once more by De Beers.
- Attention now pivots to De Beers exit negotiations, with investors eyeing the upcoming steps in Anglo’s ongoing portfolio overhaul.
Anglo American shares climbed Friday, with investors eyeing the latest hefty writedown at De Beers and watching for signs the miner can speed up its diamond exit and streamline the group.
Shares picked up 1.8% to 3,641 pence in the morning session, putting the company’s value right around £36.4 a share.
This is significant: Anglo’s overhaul is colliding with a soft diamond market just as it pushes to recast itself as a miner focused on copper and iron ore. Offloading De Beers quickly would clean things up, but a drawn-out sale means that overhang sticks around.
Anglo swung to a $3.7 billion loss for 2025, weighed by a $2.3 billion pre-tax writedown on De Beers. Underlying EBITDA landed at $6.4 billion, more or less matching what analysts had penciled in. Shares kicked off the session up 1.3% in London. “A plentiful supply of rough diamonds in the market,” CEO Duncan Wanblad told reporters, noting the De Beers sale process has reached an advanced phase, with binding bids coming up next. Reuters
De Beers is attracting attention from several consortia, according to Wanblad. Botswana has indicated it’s aiming to boost its share in the diamond giant. Angola, for its part, is seeking a 20% to 30% holding—a plan Reuters has earlier reported was on the table with other African diamond producers.
Anglo is offloading or spinning off assets it doesn’t consider central anymore—nickel and steelmaking coal are headed for sale, and the platinum business is being split out. The goal: slim things down, focus on copper and iron ore. Demand for metals tied to electrification keeps pulling in capital and shaping priorities.
Anglo’s numbers came out just as a bumpy earnings stretch for London miners was wrapping up. Copper gave a boost to some, with Antofagasta singled out by Anglo as riding the metal’s upswing. On the other end, diamonds, coal and iron ore have been a drag, leaving diversified rivals grappling with softer conditions.
Attention is on Anglo’s proposed merger with Teck Resources—a deal aimed at boosting copper scale. Teck, after posting results on Thursday, said all that’s left are regulatory sign-offs. Shareholders signed off back in December.
Anglo announced it will pay a final dividend of 16 U.S. cents per share for the year ended Dec. 31, 2025. The stock goes ex-div on the London Stock Exchange March 12, and shareholders on record by March 13 will be eligible. Payment lands May 6.
Still, plenty could trip this up. Should diamond demand remain sluggish while inventories pile up, buyers might insist on steeper discounts or stricter terms. And once governments get involved in a deal, timelines have a way of dragging out.
Right now, De Beers headlines are calling the shots for traders, who are watching for any concrete updates on binding bids or regulatory moves tied to the Teck merger—those will likely set the tone. March 12 lands as the next key date for equity holders; that’s when Anglo shares trade ex-dividend in London.
