Rio Tinto is the latest miner to reward investors with a generous payout
Melbourne — Rio Tinto Group, the world’s number two mining company, pledged to return more than $7bn to investors after a spree of asset sales and its first-half profit hit a four-year high. The producer declared an interim dividend of $1.27 a share, from $1.10 in the same period a year earlier, and also approved plans to hand investors about $4bn of proceeds from asset sales. Rio’s total package of $7.2bn of cash returns, compares with a payout of $3bn in the first half of 2017, according to filings. Underlying profit rose 12% to $4.4bn in the six months to end-June on better base metals prices and higher iron ore volumes, London-based Rio said in a statement on Wednesday. That compared with $3.9bn a year earlier and a $4.45bn average estimate among three analysts’ forecasts compiled by Bloomberg. The miner’s balance sheet is being bolstered by asset sales announced this year of about $8.5bn, including Australian coal mines and an interest in Indonesia’s Grasberg, the second-larges...
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