Woodside Targets $400M in Savings, Plans 500 Job Cuts

Australia's Woodside Energy on Thursday unveiled a new payout policy for investors and flagged it would axe around 10% of its workforce globally, as it set out higher targets for cost cutting and return on capital.

Favoured by investors for paying out up to 80% of its underlying net profit in dividends since 2013, Woodside scrapped that policy and said it would now pay 20% to 40% of adjusted operating cash flow, with 20% as the base and another 20% for additional dividends or buybacks.

CEO Liz Westcott said Woodside now expects to slash costs by $400 million, up from $350 million announced in August, and the company aims to achieve a 12% to 15% return on investment for all projects by the middle of the next decade.

"Our priority now is to extract more value from our portfolio," Westcott said in a statement ahead of the company's annual Capital Markets Day.

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