Rio Tinto Share Price (RIO)

Share Name Share Symbol Market Type Share ISIN Share Description
Rio Tinto Plc LSE:RIO London Ordinary Share GB0007188757 ORD 10P
  Price Change % Change Share Price Shares Traded Last Trade
  87.00 2.11% 4,216.50 1,546,688 16:35:07
Bid Price Offer Price High Price Low Price Open Price
4,214.00 4,215.50 4,228.50 4,150.00 4,163.00
Industry Sector Turnover (m) Profit (m) EPS - Basic PE Ratio Market Cap (m)
Mining 31,775.73 14,245.83 622.00 7.0 55,004
Last Trade Time Trade Type Trade Size Trade Price Currency
17:50:44 O 968 4,219.497 GBX
Related Shares
Bhp (BHP), Glencore (GLEN), Mila Resources (MILA), African Battery Metals (ABM)

Rio Tinto (RIO) Latest News (1)

Rio Tinto News

Date Time Source Headline
06/12/201916:53UKREGRio Tinto PLC Transaction in Own Shares
05/12/201916:57UKREGRio Tinto PLC Transaction in Own Shares
05/12/201909:40ALNCFAlliance News Flash Headline
04/12/201916:56UKREGRio Tinto PLC Transaction in Own Shares
04/12/201916:01UKREGRio Tinto PLC Director/PDMR Shareholding
04/12/201916:00UKREGRio Tinto PLC Director/PDMR Shareholding
04/12/201909:34BWRio Tinto to Curtail Operations at Richards Bay Minerals
04/12/201908:02ALNCTOP NEWS: Rio Tinto Halts Richards Bay Operations Over Safety Concerns
04/12/201907:00UKREGRio Tinto PLC Rio Tinto curtails operations at RBM
03/12/201918:03UKREGRio Tinto PLC Transaction in Own Shares
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Rio Tinto Takeover Rumours

Rio Tinto (RIO) Discussions and Chat

Rio Tinto Forums and Chat

Date Time Title Posts
08/12/201909:37RIO TINTO-THE INVESTORS INFORMATION LINE2,232
07/8/201917:52RIO - TRADERS THREAD55,165
02/8/201907:45Rio Tinto Investors thread400
13/2/201910:27Only a question of time before Rio take out GGP and BP take out UKOG-
28/11/201414:44Tip TV Daily market Round-up-

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08/12/2019
08:20		Rio Tinto Daily Update: Rio Tinto Plc is listed in the Mining sector of the London Stock Exchange with ticker RIO. The last closing price for Rio Tinto was 4,129.50p.
Rio Tinto Plc has a 4 week average price of 4,045p and a 12 week average price of 3,911p.
The 1 year high share price is 5,039p while the 1 year low share price is currently 3,489p.
There are currently 1,304,485,197 shares in issue and the average daily traded volume is 2,401,048 shares. The market capitalisation of Rio Tinto Plc is £55,003,618,331.51.
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07/11/2019
13:36		adrian j boris: Global mining companies are re-examining how they pay their chief executives, aiming to diminish the impact of external factors--like swings in commodity prices--that can mask a leader's true performance. At issue are big bonuses linked to total shareholder returns that can swell or shrink depending on how a company's share price performs. Miners--like companies in other sectors--say pay deals that rely too heavily on these bonuses can encourage risky behavior such as taking on big expansion projects or employing severe cost-cutting initiatives that, in some cases, take years to clean up. Instead, mining companies argue pay should be linked more closely with strategic targets, because that would better reflect what an individual executive can influence. A number of big miners including BHP Group Ltd., Rio Tinto PLC and South32 Ltd. are seeking to make changes to their executive pay plans, some starting from next year. "Mining companies' profitability, and therefore executive remuneration, is highly cyclical and strongly driven by market factors that are outside of their control," said Bill Hartnett, stewardship director at Aberdeen Standard Investments, which holds about 3.2% of BHP's London-listed stock for clients. BHP already has seen the pay for its CEO decrease in recent years. Marius Kloppers, who stepped down as CEO in 2013, earned as much as $16 million a year during a tenure that coincided with a China-led boom in prices for some of BHP's top commodities including coal and iron ore. His successor, Andrew Mackenzie, who took home a total of $3.5 million for fiscal 2019, has operated the company during a period of falling commodity prices as the world digests increasing amounts of supply from natural gas to iron ore. Messrs. Kloppers and Mackenzie declined to comment. Forecasting the cycle of commodity prices is a hazardous business. Bad weather sometimes disrupts supply, while demand for metals and minerals can rise or fall on political edicts, especially in China. Another big weakness in the current system: Building a mine or bringing an oil field into production can take longer than the time horizon for determining bonuses. That is especially the case when permits are needed from regulators or new infrastructure such as pipelines or railroads must be built. BHP's directors say linking more pay to a performance scorecard could be the answer. New stock awards would be held back for five years so that directors can be sure that management took decisions proven to create value. Those proposals were overwhelmingly accepted in final voting on the company's revamped policy at a meeting of Australian shareholders Thursday, with about 94% of holders of the U.K. and Australia listed shares agreeing to the changes. Had this policy been in place for Mr. Kloppers, he would have earned $19 million, or about 25%, less during the roughly five years through mid-2013, BHP said. Mr. Mackenzie would have earned only 2%, or $1 million, more than he has in the years since succeeding Mr. Kloppers. It might not be the last changes made by the company. Directors also plan next year to clarify and strengthen the link between performance on climate-change goals and pay, BHP said. "We are at the early stages of engagement with other major miners on their remuneration plans," said Mr. Hartnett, the fund manager, who supports BHP's proposal. Still, finding a balance that satisfies investors in different parts of the world isn't easy. Two years ago, Rio Tinto proposed replacing long-term performance share awards with restricted stock, while at the same time lowering the contribution of those long-run bonuses to the CEO's total pay packet. The proposal "was well-received in London. It was less well-received in Australia," Chairman Simon Thompson said at a shareholder meeting earlier this year. It was set aside. Rio Tinto says it is talking to investors and could try again, noting its remuneration policy must be reviewed every three years under U.K. law. "The board remains of the view that restricted stock has considerable merits in a long-term cyclical industry such as mining," the miner said. South32, which is also reviewing its pay structure, said it is hard to strike a balance that ensures it is still attractive to executives who might otherwise give the base-metals miner a pass. South32 Chief Executive Graham Kerr this year relinquished 4.7 million Australian dollars (US$3.2 million) in long-term bonuses that were part of a deal agreed when BHP spun off the business. The bonus in big part reflected a more than 40% rise in South32's share price since it began trading in 2015. "I don't think any of us expected to see South32 perform as strongly as it did over the first four years of its long-term plan," South32 Chairman Karen Wood said at an investor meeting recently. "We all felt--and by all, I'm including Graham very much in this assessment--that it would deliver an amount of money that we thought was not appropriate." Mr. Kerr was unavailable for comment. Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com and Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires November 07, 2019 08:14 ET (13:14 GMT)
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23/10/2019
13:09		the grumpy old men: What I’d do about the Rio Tinto and Fresnillo share prices today Alan Oscroft | Wednesday, 23rd October, 2019 | More on: ANTO FRES RIO A miner down a mine shaft Image source: Getty Images. Overlooked by the headlines, some share prices in the mining sector have been creeping up. Over the past five years, while the FTSE 100 has gained a modest 10%, Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) shares are up 37%. And while dividends can be erratic due to the cyclical nature of the sector, Rio’s have been climbing strongly and forecasts suggest a yield of 8.6% for the current year. That’s way better than the predicted overall Footsie yield of 4.8%, but a lot of that will be due to the shares’ low forward P/E rating of just eight after the price has fallen back a little in recent months. The downwards pressure is coming from fears over falling demand as global economic weakness could well hurt the commodities market in 2020 and beyond. China, in particular, has reported a slowing of economic growth to 6% in the three months to 30 September, from 6.2% But a growth rate of 6% is something many a developed economy can only dream of. And the fact Chinese growth has been slowing for a couple of decades is only to be expected as that country matures further. It seems like only yesterday I was reading about Chinese growth dropping below 9% amid fears of a ‘hard landing’ for its economy — which still hasn’t happened. Copper bottomed Any downturn in China might be expected to affect Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) too. But its focus on copper has helped keep its share valuation buoyant and we’re looking at a forward P/E of 19 (and a modest dividend yield of 2.5%). The company’s Q3 production report Wednesday was opened by CEO Iván Arriagada, who spoke of “another quarter of strong production underpinned by a consistent operating performance, which together with higher grades at some of our operations, contributed to year to date copper volumes of 584,200 tonnes which are 16% higher than the same period in 2018.” Production costs are falling, and the firm expects full-year production growth in line with previous guidance. The fact that the firm also produces gold can’t have hurt, as Brexit-scared investors are helping to push up the price of that otherwise essentially useless shiny stuff. Antofagasta produced 226,600 ounces of gold year-to-date, up 88.7% on the previous year. Silver plated Meanwhile, at silver producer Fresnillo (LSE: FRES), CEO Octavio Alvídrez spoke of the company’s Q3 production, saying: “While grades remain variable, we are now processing higher volumes of ore on a more consistent basis.” Year-to-date total silver production actually declined 11.8%, at 40,839 koz, with gold down 7% at 642,169 oz — but that’s still a lot of ounces of both. The period was affected by “taking actions to address maintenance performance, contractor productivity and equipment availability.” Work currently being undertaken should hopefully help stabilise grades and boost overall volumes. After a huge surge in 2016, the Fresnillo share price has since been steadily declining, and has lost two thirds of its value since an August peak that year. But even after that, forecasts still put the shares on a forward P/E multiple of 31 for the full year. A 29% earnings rise indicated for 2020 would drop that, but only as far as 25, and dividends are set to yield only around 2%. I think mining shares are great for long-term, if variable, income, but I’d buy on the down cycle. High-Yield Hidden Star? Discover the name of a Top Income Share with a juicy 6% forecast dividend yield that has got our Motley Fool UK analyst champing at the bit! Find out why he thinks “the stock’s current weakness may offer us the chance to buy a proven dividend performer at what could be a bargain price”. Click here to claim your copy of this special report now — free of charge! Alan Oscroft has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Fresnillo.
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30/7/2019
05:51		waldron: MOTELYFOOL Iron ore miners tumble: Are Fortescue, BHP and Rio Tinto a buy? Lina Lim | July 29, 2019 | More on: BHP FMG RIO Dominoes falling in a row The iron ore spot price has stabilised around the US$120 per tonne mark while the S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO) index has just passed 6,800. This is in stark contrast to the ASX iron ore miners, which have struggled on the news that the world’s largest miner, Vale SA, would resume production at its Vargem Grade complex. This news has resulted in the following price movements in the past week: BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price down 1.07% to $40.56 (at time of writing) Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) share price down 4.6% to $8.30 (at time of writing) Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price down 4% to $98.26 (at time of writing) Is this a buy opportunity? The iron ore bull run is perhaps at its cross roads as Vale SA slowly returns to form. The Brazilian miner said that the move to Vargem Grade will add approximately 5 million tonnes to annual production. We’ve known for a long time that Vale has been awaiting supreme court approval for the resumption of production at several mine sites. Last month, Vale SA received court approval to enable the full resumption of wet processing operations at its Brucutu mine. Brucutu has an annual production capacity of approximately 30 metric tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of iron ore. This represents 8% of Value’s annual output. Fast forward to today, and the Vargem decision will enable the partial resumption of dry processing operations, which will total approximately 5 Mt of additional production in 2019. If we piece together the initial statistics of the Vale disaster that resulted in a loss of approximately 90 million tonnes of an annualised supply of around 1.7 billion tonnes, it appears as though the market is very slowly coming back to equilibrium. The plateauing bullish fundamentals overshadow Fortescue’s June 2019 quarterly production report, which highlight a 22% rise in total ore shipped while citing sustained strong demand from customers. Foolish takeaway I believe the recent falls in BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue share price are, to some degree, a market overreaction. However, I am going to make the bold call that the top is in for ASX iron ore miners. On one hand, demand side fundamentals remain robust and the supply–demand imbalance will continue to persist in the short term. But it is evident that the market is slowly creeping back to an equilibrium and I find it highly unlikely that ASX iron ore miners will break out their old highs.
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14/6/2019
05:56		the grumpy old men: Why the Rio Tinto share price is outperforming with the sector today Brendon Lau | June 14, 2019 | More on: BHP FMG RIO Race Many of the big ASX miners are outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 (Index:^AXJO) (ASX:XJO) index this morning after the price of iron ore hit a five-year high. The Platts Iron Ore Index, or IODEX, jumped to $US110.20 a tonne and has gained more than 50% since January, according to the Australian Financial Review. This pushed the Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price up nearly 2% to $103.82 this morning, while the BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price added 1.1% to $40 and the Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price surged 4.6% to $8.73. Iron ore in a seller’s market Worries about the supply of mainstream iron ore fines are reported to be behind the latest price surge and traders are expecting tight supply in July and August. It’s a seller’s market – at least in the short-term with some analysts predicting the price of the commodity could jump to US$120 a tonne by August. The strength of the steel making ingredient is defying the gloom cast over the Chinese economy from the ongoing trade spat between the US and China. This is largely based on two factors. The Chinese government may step up infrastructure construction to offset the slowing economy and that means greater demand for steel. The other factor is that profit margins for Chinese steel mills are still reasonably healthy. These mills will keep buying iron ore to produce steel as long as they can make a buck! Risk of a price correction in the second half But not everyone is a bull. Some analysts, including those from Citigroup, point out that profit margins of these mills are under pressure and have become razor thin in recent times and that the supply of residential property is outstripping demand, which leads to a real risk that steel production could fall in the second half of this calendar year. This isn’t a given so it’s probably a little premature to be selling off all your holdings in iron ore stocks. The high price of the commodity also gives me some comfort as it provides room for a fall without necessarily triggering a consensus profit downgrade cycle for these stocks. Foolish takeaway Many analysts have assumed an iron ore price that’s materially under US$100 a tonne, so even if the ore price were to fall 20% from its expected peak, that shouldn’t impact much, if at all, on share valuations. On the flipside, if iron ore prices stay higher for longer (and it seems to have a bit of a history of remaining stubbornly high) or if it only dips modestly, shares in our major iron ore producers can enjoy a consensus profit upgrade instead. But iron ore stocks aren’t the only group with a promising outlook. The experts at the Motley Fool have uncovered some gems that are well placed to outperform in 2019.
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09/6/2019
11:10		la forge: A Deeper Look into the Quant Scorecard For: Rio Tinto Group (LSE:RIO), UBS Group AG (SWX:UBSG) Written by John Wilkes × June 9, 2019 There are many different tools to determine whether a company is profitable or not. One of the most popular ratios is the “Return on Assets” (aka ROA). This score indicates how profitable a company is relative to its total assets. The Return on Assets for Rio Tinto Group (LSE:RIO) is 0.142469. This number is calculated by dividing net income after tax by the company’s total assets. A company that manages their assets well will have a higher return, while a company that manages their assets poorly will have a lower return. Creating a diversified stock portfolio is one way that investors may combat the unknown. Appropriate levels of risk that include different market scenarios might vary from one individual investor to the next. Investors may need to careful that they do not become too reliant on one big position. When that position is producing returns, it can be easy to assume that the holding will continue to produce positive results. If the portfolio is weighted too heavily on one or two big positions, an overall market downturn may send the investor reeling. Finding that proper portfolio balance is typically what dedicated investors strive for. Taking a step further we can take a look at various other valuation metrics. Rio Tinto Group (LSE:RIO) has a Price to Book ratio of 2.146671. This ratio is calculated by dividing the current share price by the book value per share. Investors may use Price to Book to display how the market portrays the value of a stock. Checking in on some other ratios, the company has a Price to Cash Flow ratio of 7.933295, and a current Price to Earnings ratio of 6.876337. The P/E ratio is one of the most common ratios used for figuring out whether a company is overvalued or undervalued. The Free Cash Flor Yield 5yr Average is calculated by taking the five year average free cash flow of a company, and dividing it by the current enterprise value. Enterprise Value is calculated by taking the market capitalization plus debt, minority interest and preferred shares, minus total cash and cash equivalents. The average FCF of a company is determined by looking at the cash generated by operations of the company. The Free Cash Flow Yield 5 Year Average of Rio Tinto Group (LSE:RIO) is 0.049266. The Return on Invested Capital (aka ROIC) for Rio Tinto Group (LSE:RIO) is 0.163431. The Return on Invested Capital is a ratio that determines whether a company is profitable or not. It tells investors how well a company is turning their capital into profits. The ROIC is calculated by dividing the net operating profit (or EBIT) by the employed capital. The employed capital is calculated by subrating current liabilities from total assets. Similarly, the Return on Invested Capital Quality ratio is a tool in evaluating the quality of a company’s ROIC over the course of five years. The ROIC Quality of Rio Tinto Group (LSE:RIO) is 3.920713. This is calculated by dividing the five year average ROIC by the Standard Deviation of the 5 year ROIC. The ROIC 5 year average is calculated using the five year average EBIT, five year average (net working capital and net fixed assets). The ROIC 5 year average of Rio Tinto Group (LSE:RIO) is 0.117215. Rio Tinto Group (LSE:RIO) presently has a current ratio of 1.92. The current ratio, also known as the working capital ratio, is a liquidity ratio that displays the proportion of current assets of a business relative to the current liabilities. The ratio is simply calculated by dividing current liabilities by current assets. The ratio may be used to provide an idea of the ability of a certain company to pay back its liabilities with assets. Typically, the higher the current ratio the better, as the company may be more capable of paying back its obligations. In terms of value, Rio Tinto Group (LSE:RIO) has a Value Composite score of 24. Developed by James O’Shaughnessy, the VC score uses five valuation ratios. These ratios are price to earnings, price to cash flow, EBITDA to EV, price to book value, and price to sales. The VC is displayed as a number between 1 and 100. In general, a company with a score closer to 0 would be seen as undervalued, and a score closer to 100 would indicate an overvalued company. Adding a sixth ratio, shareholder yield, we can view the Value Composite 2 score which is currently sitting at 16. Quant Ranks (ERP5, Gross Margin, F Score) The ERP5 Rank is an investment tool that analysts use to discover undervalued companies. The ERP5 looks at the Price to Book ratio, Earnings Yield, ROIC and 5 year average ROIC. The ERP5 of Rio Tinto Group (LSE:RIO) is 4487. The lower the ERP5 rank, the more undervalued a company is thought to be. The Piotroski F-Score is a scoring system between 1-9 that determines a firm’s financial strength. The score helps determine if a company’s stock is valuable or not. The Piotroski F-Score of Rio Tinto Group (LSE:RIO) is 7. A score of nine indicates a high value stock, while a score of one indicates a low value stock. The score is calculated by the return on assets (ROA), Cash flow return on assets (CFROA), change in return of assets, and quality of earnings. It is also calculated by a change in gearing or leverage, liquidity, and change in shares in issue. The score is also determined by change in gross margin and change in asset turnover. Investors may be interested in viewing the Gross Margin score on shares of Rio Tinto Group (LSE:RIO). The name currently has a score of 40.00000. This score is derived from the Gross Margin (Marx) stability and growth over the previous eight years. The Gross Margin score lands on a scale from 1 to 100 where a score of 1 would be considered positive, and a score of 100 would be seen as negative. Price Index The Price Index is a ratio that indicates the return of a share price over a past period. The price index of Rio Tinto Group (LSE:RIO) for last month was 1.02182. This is calculated by taking the current share price and dividing by the share price one month ago. If the ratio is greater than 1, then that means there has been an increase in price over the month. If the ratio is less than 1, then we can determine that there has been a decrease in price. Similarly, investors look up the share price over 12 month periods. The Price Index 12m for Rio Tinto Group (LSE:RIO) is 1.11648. Price Range 52 Weeks Some of the best financial predictions are formed by using a variety of financial tools. The Price Range 52 Weeks is one of the tools that investors use to determine the lowest and highest price at which a stock has traded in the previous 52 weeks. The Price Range of Rio Tinto Group (LSE:RIO) over the past 52 weeks is 0.946000. The 52-week range can be found in the stock’s quote summary.
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27/5/2019
07:01		grupo: BHP, Fortescue, & Rio Tinto higher as iron ore prices surge again James Mickleboro | May 27, 2019 | More on: BHP FMG MGX RIO ASX iron ore miners Although the market has had a subdued start to the week, that hasn’t stopped Australia’s leading iron ore producers from storming higher this morning. In morning trade the iron ore industry has been one of the best performing areas of the market thanks to yet another rise in the price of the base metal. Here’s the state of play at the time of writing: The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is up 1.5% to $38.00. The Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price has pushed 1.6% higher to $8.35. The Mount Gibson Iron Limited (ASX: MGX) share price has climbed 2.5% to $1.28. The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price is 1.5% higher to $102.76. What happened with iron ore prices? Iron ore prices continued their rise on Friday and closed in on five-year highs. According to Metal Bulletin, the price of the benchmark 62% fines rose 1.5% to US$105.32 a tonne, leaving it trading within a whisker of its five-year high of US$105.78 a tonne. Gains were also made by both lower and higher grade ore. The price of the lower grade 58% fines rose 0.3% to finish the week at US$87.02 a tonne, whereas the higher grade 65% fines closed the week with a 0.7% gain to US$119.30 a tonne. What’s next for iron ore prices? The good news for shareholders of these miners is that all signs are pointing to further gains today after Chinese iron ore futures finished the week on a very strong note. In fact, futures contracts closed the week at a record high thanks to increasing demand from Chinese steel producers after a production ramp up and declines in stockpiles at Chinese ports. If this leads to further increases in iron ore prices this week, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see the likes of BHP, Fortescue, and Rio Tinto continue their charge higher.
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11/8/2017
09:36		christh: Why Rio Tinto Is 'Top Dividend-Paying Rock Stock' With 4.77% Yield (RIO) August 10, 2017, 09:57:43 AM EDT By DividendChannel.com, BNK Invest Rio Tinto plc (Symbol: RIO) has been named as the ''Top Dividend-Paying Rock Stock'', according to Dividend Channel , which published its most recent ''DividendRank'' report. The report noted that among shares of companies in the minerals and mining space, RIO displayed both attractive valuation metrics and strong profitability metrics. For example, the recent RIO share price of $46.16 represents a price-to-book ratio of 1.6 and an annual dividend yield of 4.77% - by comparison, the average stock in Dividend Channel's coverage universe yields 3.6% and trades at a price-to-book ratio of 2.3. The report also cited the strong semi-annual dividend history at Rio Tinto plc, and favorable long-term multi-year growth rates in key fundamental data points. The report stated, '' Dividend investors approaching investing from a value standpoint are generally most interested in researching the strongest most profitable companies, that also happen to be trading at an attractive valuation. That's what we aim to find using our proprietary DividendRank formula, which ranks the coverage universe based upon our various criteria for both profitability and valuation, to generate a list of the top most 'interesting' stocks, meant for investors as a source of ideas that merit further research. '' The current annualized dividend paid by Rio Tinto plc is $2.200118/share, currently paid in semi-annual installments, and its most recent dividend ex-date was on 08/09/2017. Below is a long-term dividend history chart for RIO, which the report stressed as being of key importance. Indeed, studying a company's past dividend history can be of good help in judging whether the most recent dividend is likely to continue. http://www.nasdaq.com/article/why-rio-tinto-is-top-dividend-paying-rock-stock-with-477-yield-rio-cm830169
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12/8/2016
09:13		christh: Rio Tinto: A Core Investment In The Mining Sector Despite The Dividend Cut Aug.10.16 | About: Rio Tinto (RIO) Rio Tinto reports acceptable half-year results and cuts the interim dividend by 58% to 45 cents. The dividend for the full year will be at least 110 cents. Higher free cash flow allowed to reduce net debt. If iron remains at $55, Rio Tinto will surely continue to make progress. Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO), the world's second largest iron ore miner, reported half-year results on August 3. Underlying EBITDA fell 27% to $5,367M compared to $7,303M in the year before. Underlying earnings dropped 47% to $1,563M or $0.95 per diluted share. Strong free cash flow enabled the company to reduce net debt from $13.8B at the end of last year to $12.9B on June 30, and gearing was lowered from 23% to 21%. Underlying earnings are a key metric for Rio Tinto shareholders as they determine the dividend after the introduction of the new policy in February 2016. Total cash returns to shareholders shall be in a range of 40% to 60% of underlying earnings in aggregate through the cycle. The 45 cents interim dividend which was just declared is in the middle of that range and represents 52% of underlying earnings. Nevertheless, it is a 58% reduction compared to the last interim dividend of 107.5 cents. Rio Tinto also stated that for FY16, the board's intention is the final dividend paid next year will be at least 65 cents per share. Business Outlook After the recovery of prices from their 10-year lows at the beginning of the year, the importance of iron ore for Rio Tinto's profitability is as high as it used to be in the past. Iron ore represents 60% of underlying EBITDA in the first half of 2016 and 82% of underlying earnings before other items. Rio Tinto's Product Groups Product Group Revenue [$M] 1HY16 Revenue [$M] 1HY15 Underlying EBITDA [$M] 1HY16 Underlying EBITDA [$M] 1HY15 Underlying Earnings [$M] 1HY16 Underlying Earnings [$M] 1HY15 Iron Ore 6,303 7,004 3,438 4,010 1,743 2,100 Aluminum 4,553 5,455 1,076 1,688 377 793 Copper & Diamonds 2,453 3,263 655 1,335 -67 393 Energy & Minerals 2,960 3,524 531 620 82 74 Other operations/ other items/ exploration/net interest -4 -12 -337 -350 -572 -417 Total 16,293 19,234 5,367 7,303 1,563 2,923 Source: Company website. Iron ore is Rio Tinto's bright spot, and it will likely continue to be the driver for an improved business performance going forward. In 1HY16, Rio Tinto realized an average iron ore price of $44.5/wmt FOB basis, equivalent to $48.4/dmt. Pilbara cash unit costs fell to $14.30/ton, compared to $16.20 in the first half of 2015 . At present it seems that the iron ore price recovery can be sustainable, and assuming an average price of $55/dmt for the rest of the year, Rio Tinto's EBITDA in 2HY16 could grow by around $800M. All other segments had to face stronger headwinds in the first half-year, and combined underlying EBITDA fell 38% or $1,381M from $3,463M to $2,262M. This compares to a $572M EBITDA reduction corresponding to a 14% decline for the Iron Ore product group. Although some improvements can be expected in the second half of the year, the other product groups are unlikely to have a substantial positive impact on Rio Tinto's result. For Aluminum, the second largest segment, I expect a slightly improved performance based on constant volume and better pricing. Not much progress can be anticipated from Copper and Diamonds. Copper is one of the few disappointments in the commodity sector as prices remain at depressed levels, and the red metal did not benefit from the broad mining rally of 2016. Volumes will not contribute to growth either as Rio Tinto's production will essentially remain flat in the second half-year. Energy and Minerals is likely to see a stronger second half-year, driven by various factors. Prices for thermal coal recovered noticeably in recent months due to higher imports to China. Metallurgical coal prices are up as well inline with strong demand for steelmaking raw materials. The contribution of iron ore pellets from IOC (Iron Ore Company of Canada) which are reported under Energy and Minerals, will continue to increase on higher production volumes. All these trends point toward higher cash flows in the second half of 2016. Net cash generated from operating activities of $3.2B in 1HY16 was 24% lower than in 2015, but capital expenditures of $1.3B ($1.1.B less than last year) and raising $0.6B through asset sales increased cash generation, allowing Rio Tinto to reduce net debt by $0.9B. The reduced dividend in the second half-year will liberate additional cash. With the final payment in April 2016, the company distributed $1.9B to shareholders. The lower interim dividend of $0.45 will save Rio Tinto around $1.1B later in the year. On the other side, capital and exploration expenditures will increase based on Rio Tinto's guidance of $4.0B for FY16. New projects and primarily the development of the Oyu Tolgoi underground copper mine in Mongolia with a projected investment volume of $5.3B and the Amrun bauxite project in Queensland with $1.8B remaining will increase capex in the near future. They will bring expenditures up to $5.0B in 2017 and $5.5B in 2018, including around $2.0B of annual sustaining capex. Assuming an at least stable price environment for Rio Tinto's major products and predominantly iron ore, my estimation is that the company's operational performance will continue to improve which should lead to at least constant free cash flow. This should enable the company to reduce net debt further or possibly pay out more than the $1.10 minimum dividend. Share Price and Dividend With the strongest balance sheet and the lowest cost delivered to China, Rio Tinto remains the most solid of the major iron ore miners. This has not spared shares from falling nearly 50% to a low of $22 in January, but the stock has recovered nearly 50% since then. Compared with its peers BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) (NYSE:BBL) and particularly Vale SA (NYSE:VALE), Rio Tinto has been less volatile. Despite the dividend cut, Rio Tinto maintains an above average yield, higher than BHP's, not to mention Vale which suspended the dividend entirely. With the outlook of a minimum dividend of $1.10 for FY16, Rio Tinto yields 3.4%. As I said earlier, a healthy cash flow might even allow Rio Tinto to pay more than $0.65 final dividend, but it is too early to count on it yet. Conclusion Rio Tinto has mastered the commodity downturn quite well, and the stock bottomed earlier in the year. The company's balance sheet which already belonged to the strongest in the industry improved further after the debt repayment. I'm optimistic about Rio Tinto's near-term outlook and the stock remains one of the key holdings in my mining's portfolio. Disclaimer: Opinions expressed herein by the author are not an investment recommendation, any material in this article should be considered general information, and not relied on as a formal investment recommendation. Before making any investment decisions, investors should also use other sources of information, draw their own conclusions, and consider seeking advice from a broker or financial advisor. hTtp://seekingalpha.com/article/3998497-rio-tinto-core-investment-mining-sector-despite-dividend-cut
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08/11/2015
17:17		kenmitch: There is NO evidence that Rio buybacks have kept the share price at a reasonable level. We cannot know what the RIO share price would be now if they hadn't bought back. It's just as likely it could be higher. Shares in the Mining sector rise and fall across the board on up and down days, and very few if anyone buying or selling ever thinks before doing so about whether or not that Company has bought back shares. If buybacks really did support the share price then BP share price after £30 billion spent on buybacks would now be much higher instead of way down on the buyback prices. And how much did the GLEN buybacks this year all over £2 help prevent the share price falling to below 70p. It would have fallen just as far without the buybacks, and arguably less far as they would have the $1.6 billion they chose to throw down the drain! And the real clincher is APPLE. They have spent a mind boggling $104 billion on buybacks and yet their share price is on a far lower rating than many other US Tech shares. Buybacks are brilliant for Directors though as their bonus payments are often based on EPS. And yes, buybacks do of course increase eps, but that doesn't automatically mean a higher share price. It's also brilliant for Directors that so many investors big and small just accept as read the nonsense that buybacks are always good. So they get away with wasting money on them over and over again, and happily enjoy their bonus payments too on top of often much too high rewards anyway.
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24/3/2015
17:04		kenmitch: christh But there is no evidence that the BT share price rise was because of the buybacks is there? Lot of shares go up (and down) a lot and the main drivers are buying and selling (obviously) and then news and results etc. Have you ever read the detailed research from Morgan Stanley on share buybacks? They found that time and again companies buying back their shares subsequently saw their share prices underperform others in the same sector that had not bought back. Rio have bought back heavily in the past and at times close to the peaks of long ago, and they too provided no protection for the share price when commodity prices fell. It really is a fallacy that share buyback = higher share price. Also you use the word "will" as though a Rio share price rise is a certainty. You use that word both in support of your case for buybacks and also because of Rio's current tactics. I happen to agree that for the reasons you give the share price is likely to rise, but it is not a certainty. And when I last checked Goldman Sachs had Rio as a conviction sell. I don't agree but the fact that some are negative means rarely is a share certain to go up. The Rio share price is likely to move up and down with others in the sector buybacks or no buybacks. When news from China improves and when the price of iron ore recovers THEN the Rio share price is likely to do very well. You can then claim that the buybacks were partly behind the rise. I would claim that Rio's and BHP's tactics now of not cutting back production is hitting higher producers hard and will likely mean both their share prices doing very well in time. You say that too so why the need to buy back their shares? Isn't it better to increase the dividend instead as a higher yield can mean more investing in Rio including big income funds.
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