Rio Tinto reports in-line half-year profit, says full-year copper output on track

Rio Tinto’s (NYSE:RIO) half-year underlying earnings growth nearly matched market expectations, the miner reported Tuesday, as higher copper production and prices helped to offset a slightly lower production and prices from its dominant iron ore business.

Rio (RIO) reported underlying earnings of $5.75B in the six months to June 30, up 1.8% from the year-earlier period and compared with a $5.79B Visible Alpha analyst consensus estimate.

H1 average realized prices for Rio’s (RIO) flagship Pilbara iron ore edged lower to $97.30/metric ton from $98.60/ton a year ago.

CEO Jakob Stausholm said Rio’s (RIO) copper equivalent production was on track to grow by ~2% for the year, and the company is targeting ~3% compound annual growth during 2024-28 from existing operations and projects.

“We see the Chinese economy growing +/- 5%, and that is very good for commodity markets. You also see the U.S. growing. Not fantastic, but absolutely underpinning good markets and good demand for our products,” Stausholm told a media call, according to Reuters.

Rio (RIO) said its net debt totaled $5.1B, near the higher end of analyst estimates, while free cash flow was in line at $2.8B.

The company declared an interim dividend of $1.77/share, which it said was equal to 50% of underlying earnings, in line with its policy and typical midyear payouts in recent years.