BHP Billiton: what lies beneath the surface?

"We've got a very impressive set of results that we're very proud to talk about," declared BHP's chief executive, Marius Kloppers – but since he has launched a $39bn hostile bid for Potash Corp, no one was particularly interested in grilling him on them. So no one paid any particular attention to profits at the low end of some estimates, a decline in iron-ore earnings and a cautious outlook for the world economy. It might seem mean to cavil over relatively minor points; BHP is an undeniably strong company which has cheered the markets with its bid. I'm just saying, though.