In an address to BHP’s annual general meeting today, Nasser said the company’s plan to spin-out non-core assets continued to move ahead, with a number of important approvals secured recently.

“We have made very good progress in recent weeks and I am pleased to confirm that the demerger is on track,” he said.

“We have received a number of the more significant regulatory approvals, including from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board and the Australian Taxation Office and we are progressing well on those that remain outstanding.”

Shareholders will vote on the initiative in May next year, and outside those plans, Nasser said BHP would continue to leverage its strengths by focusing on large upstream assets.

BHP CEO Andrew Mackenzie told the meeting the company was developing a “stunningly simple” portfolio, considering its size.

“Today we have 41 assets worldwide, 19 of which generate a large percentage of our earnings,” he said.

“We see a future concentrated exclusively on these core minerals and petroleum assets, a 50% reduction from today, and only 12 of the 19 will be operated by BHP Billiton.”

Taking stock of the company’s performance over the past year, Mackenzie said BHP had been able to post a significant increase in profit despite falling commodity prices.

Directors said China would continue to drive demand for resources, and while its property sector was starting to slow other parts of the economy were showing resilience.

New production expansions and productivity improvements were key to BHP’s solid financial performance, and Mackenzie underlined a 14th consecutive production record at the Western Australian iron ore assets.

Shareholder questions continue at the meeting this morning, but early on BHP directors were grilled on the company’s environmental performance and commitment to climate change policies.

A number of early questions focused on issues surrounding uranium and the Olympic Dam operation.