Scandal-hit miner Rio Tinto to unveil historic dividend
Mining giant Rio Tinto will hand $16.5bn (£12.1bn) to shareholders, in one of the largest ever annual dividends in UK corporate history, according to The Sunday Times.
The Anglo-Australian company will unveil its results on Wednesday, with analysts anticipating revenues could top $65bn and pre-tax profits could hit $39bn.
Its stellar performance has been powered by pandemic-driven supply chain disruption and rebounding demand from China.
This has significantly raised the price of iron ore and other raw materials.
Chinese-state owned aluminium group Chinalco has 15 per cent stake in Rio Tinto and will pocket around $2.4 billion.
Meanwhile, US-based asset management titan BlackRock has a 10 per cent holding and is set to receive $1.7bn.
The giant reward for shareholders follows multiple scandals at the miner, with Rio Tinto looking to revive its tattered reputation.
Former chief executive JS Jacques was forced to resign in 2020 after Rio Tinto blew up Juukan Gorge, a complex of ancient Aboriginal caves steeped in cultural significance.
However, its attempts to clean up its image were rocked by a damning report published this month, which revealed a widespread culture of sexual harassment, abuse and racism at the company.
It revealed that 21 of its female employees had actual or attempted rape or sexual assault at work in the past five years.
Jacques’ successor Jakob Stausholm called the findings “deeply disturbing” and apologised to staff.
Rio Tinto is dual-listed in London and in Australia, and paid out a record $9bn in dividends in 2020.
The anticipated $16.5bn payout would be the second-largest dividend in the history of the FTSE 100.
The largest annual dividend was paid by Vodafone in 2014, when it handed out £18bn after completing the sale of its 45 per cent stake in Verizon Wireless for $130bn.