From the AFR:
But Brad Potter, head of Australian equities at BHP shareholder Nikko Asset Management, said that the dividend policy was a “travesty”.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if they accepted a credit downgrade instead of cutting the dividend,” Mr Potter told Fairfax Media.
The miner has got itself caught in a progressive dividend “bear trap” but it was unlikely to be able to scrap the policy until the next mining boom, because a backflip would be “embarrassing”.