The world's biggest miner BHP Billiton is expected to report a bumper full year profit next week after achieving a 15th straight year of record iron ore production.
But that could be overshadowed by a possible decision to spinoff its aluminium, bauxite and nickel assets into a new $14 billion company.
Analysts believe BHP could deliver a net profit of more than $US13.6 billion, up from $US10.9 billion in the prior year.
It would be a welcome turnaround for the diversified resources company, whose profit dropped by 30 per cent to $US10.9 billion in 2012/13 due mainly to weaker commodity prices.
Deutsche Bank analysts have forecast BHP will report underlying earnings of $US13.63 billion and earnings before interest and tax of $US23 billion.
They also expect the company to issue a final dividend of 61 US cents and announce an on-market rolling share buyback of at least $US3 billion.
But it won't all be good news for shareholders.
In its most recent production report BHP said it expects to take an earnings hit of between $US900 million and $US1.3 billion due to mine site rehabilitation costs and redundancy payments.
The company could also outline a demerger that has been in the planning for months.
On Friday BHP said a demerger was its preferred option in simplifying its business, with the board to consider the proposal at its pre-earnings release meeting.
Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank believes capital management could also be an important feature of the results.
Capital expenditure guidance for fiscal 2015 could be as low as $US13 billion, and investors will have an eye on the company's cost cutting program, which has already achieved $US3.3 billion in savings, excluding cuts to exploration costs.
Iron ore will once again deliver the bulk of the company's earnings, followed by petroleum and copper.
BHP recently said it's on track to achieve its target of 16 per cent production growth across all commodities for the two years to the end of June 2015.
And the company revealed it received an average realised price of $US96 per tonne for its iron ore during the second half of the financial year, down from $US112 a tonne in the preceding six months.
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