Rio Tinto Lifts Dividend Despite Lower Net Profit
July 29 2020 - 2:50AM
Dow Jones News
By David Winning
SYDNEY--Rio Tinto PLC lifted its mid-year dividend payout
despite a 20% fall in its net profit, as it balanced high iron-ore
prices with an uncertain global economic outlook.
Rio Tinto on Wednesday reported a net profit of $3.32 billion in
the six months through June, down from $4.13 billion in the same
period a year earlier when it wrote down its investment in the Oyu
Tolgoi copper deposit in Mongolia. Management said the on-year
decline in statutory profit reflected higher impairment charges,
exchange-rate losses and extra closure costs for some assets.
The company said its first-half underlying earnings fell by 4%
to $4.75 billion, beating the $4.09 billion forecast from a Wall
Street Journal poll of analysts.
Directors of the world's second-biggest mining company by market
value declared an interim dividend of $1.55 a share, up from a
payout of $1.51 a year ago.
"Despite the challenging backdrop, we generated underlying
earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of
$9.6 billion, with a margin of 47%, driven by our strong and stable
operations, with all of our assets continuing to operate throughout
the first half," Chief Executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques said.
Write to David Winning at david.winning@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 29, 2020 02:35 ET (06:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Rio Tinto (ASX:RIOCD)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Rio Tinto (ASX:RIOCD)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024