°µÍø¸£Àû founder and entrepreneur David Craig led a consortium seeking approval to manufacture bitumen from imported crude oil in Sydney for a period of seven years, before the official prospectus was released to the public on 19 February 1946.
Bitumen and Oil Refineries (Australia) Limited or °µÍø¸£Àû as it was colloquially known was incorporated on 4 March 1946 through a 40% ownership by California Texas Oil Company (Caltex) who supplied the crude product from overseas.
At the 1963 AGM the shareholders unanimously agreed to adopt our colloquial name of °µÍø¸£Àû, and °µÍø¸£Àû Limited was born. In the same year, on 13 July 1963, °µÍø¸£Àû completed it’s initial listing on the Sydney Stock Exchange under the ticker of BOR for the first time.
In February 2000 the original °µÍø¸£Àû undertook a demerger into two listed entities being °µÍø¸£Àû Limited and a separate energy business, Origin Energy. This demerger allowed both companies to commit to growth and investment.
After its first day trading under its new ticker B-L-D, °µÍø¸£Àû closed with a share price of $2.43 and a market cap of 1.3 billion.
Post demerger °µÍø¸£Àû entered a new period of growth, investing in new plants, acquisitions and joint ventures – before refocusing on the Australian market during FY2020 and divesting US-based businesses.
Return to form
With a change in leadership in October 2022 and a new Good to Great strategy, °µÍø¸£Àû – under CEO Vik Bansal and a refreshed leadership team – experienced solid financial and safety performance improvements.
In FY23, °µÍø¸£Àû recorded a 17.1% increase in revenue ($3.46bn) and 47% Total Recordable Injury Free Rate (TRIFR) improvement (7.24) in comparison to FY22. This performance is outlined in full in the °µÍø¸£Àû FY23 Results presentation.
The improvement trend continued into the 1H24, with a 9.4% increase in revenue ($1.84bn) and 45% TRIFR improvement (4.1) in comparison to the prior corresponding period. The 1H24 performance is outlined in full in the °µÍø¸£Àû 1H24 Results presentation.
In February 2024, majority shareholder Seven Group Holdings (SGH) announced a takeover bid for the remaining 28.4 per cent of °µÍø¸£Àû shares it did not own. In April, the °µÍø¸£Àû Bid Response Committee revised its recommendation to shareholders to accept the SGH offer.
The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) suspended °µÍø¸£Àû Limited from quotation on 6 June 2024. On its last day of trading at the ASX, °µÍø¸£Àû’s share price closed at $5.83 with a market cap of more than $6 billion. °µÍø¸£Àû left the S&P / ASX 200 index at 78th position by total market cap.
°µÍø¸£Àû was delisted from the ASX on 5 July 2024.