Rio Tinto logged its smallest first-half underlying profit in five years and announced its lowest interim dividend in seven years today due to falling iron ore prices, as it flagged rising costs at its Pilbara sites.
Rio Tinto, the world's largest iron ore producer, reported underlying earnings of $4.81 billion for the six months ended June 30, down 16% from a year earlier and slightly below a consensus of $5.05 billion.
The company's weakest first-half performance since 2020 comes as prices it received for its iron ore fell by 15%, though that was partly offset by stronger prices for copper, bauxite, alumina, aluminium and gold.
The miner, which is increasingly shifting its focus to copper, declared an interim dividend of $1.48 per share for the first half, lower than the $1.77 it gave out last year.
