ZCZC
BCN-27
AUSTRALIA-MINING-EARNING
Cash splash for Rio Tinto shareholders after bumper profit
SYDNEY, Feb 27, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Mining giant Rio Tinto will reward
shareholders with a special dividend after reporting another year of bumper
profits Wednesday, boosted by global asset sales last year.
Annual net profit for the Anglo-Australian giant jumped 56 percent to
US$13.64 billion after the sale of its stake in the Grasberg copper mine in
Indonesia and Europe’s biggest aluminium smelter in Dunkerque, France.
The miner will use the cash returns from the divestments to issue a
special dividend of US$4.0 billion to shareholders. The dividends take the
full-year cash splash for shareholders to a record US$13.5 billion.
“These strong results reflect the efforts of the team to implement our
value-over-volume strategy as we continued to strengthen the portfolio and
invest in future growth,” said Rio chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques.
Underlying profit for the year to December 31 — a measure preferred by
the world’s second-largest miner — was US$8.81 billion, a two percent
increase from the previous period but above market expectations.
The strong result came despite underlying earnings for iron ore, Rio’s
biggest commodity, slipping by three percent to US$6.5 billion.
Shares in Rio closed 0.59 percent higher to Aus$95.12 on Wednesday in
Sydney ahead of the result announcement.
BSS/AFP/HR/1325