Rio Tinto share price climbs on rising profits
Shares in mining giant Rio Tinto have risen two per cent after the FTSE 100 company beat market expectations and reported a profit before tax of £6bn for the six months to 30 June.
Revenues were also ahead of consensus, reaching $24.4bn, with underlying earnings rising by 21 per cent to $5.1bn.
City broker Numis said: "An excellent set of results from Rio and it appears Sam Walsh has made good inroads into steering the Rio ship back on course. Solid production performance and aggressive cost cutting has filtered through to a decent set of financials."
The company enjoyed a strong performance in iron ore, copper and aluminium despite iron ore price headwinds. Rio's balance sheet is gradually being repaired, with net debt down to $16bn.
This was within the range it wanted to achieve before considering returning capital to shareholders.
Rio Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh, commenting on the results, said: "Our outstanding half-year performance reflects the quality of our world-class assets, our programme of operational excellence and our ability to drive performance during a period of weaker prices.
"These results show that our current strategic and management focus is making a meaningful contribution to cash flow generation."