Rio Tinto First-Half Underlying Earnings Rose as Expected -- Earnings Review
August 01 2019 - 3:10AM
Dow Jones News
By Rhiannon Hoyle
Rio Tinto PLC (RIO.LN), the world's second-biggest mining
company by value, reported first-half earnings on Thursday. Here's
what we watched.
UNDERLYING PROFIT FORECAST: Rio Tinto reported first-half
underlying earnings, stripping out one-time charges, of US$4.93
billion, up 12% on year, although slightly below the US$5.16
billion median forecast from a WSJ poll of seven analysts.
DIVIDEND FORECAST: Rio Tinto said it would pay an interim
dividend of US$1.51 a share, versus the US$1.76 a share median
forecast from the same poll.
REVENUE FORECAST: First-half revenue totaled US$20.72 billion,
against a forecast of roughly US$22.19 billion.
WHAT WE WATCHED:
--OYU TOLGOI: Rio Tinto wrote down the value of its Oyu Tolgoi
copper operation in Mongolia by roughly US$800 million after last
month saying it will likely take longer and at higher cost to
finish an underground mine at the site.
--CAPITAL RETURNS: Rio Tinto said it would pay a special
dividend of US$0.61 a share, worth a total US$1 billion. Investors
were anticipating additional returns on top of the ordinary
dividend thanks to strong prices for iron ore, the miner's main
product.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 01, 2019 03:55 ET (07:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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