Rio Tinto (RIO) reported a 41 per cent decline in operating profit for the first six months of the year, while a $1.4bn (£897m) charge on US dollar-denominated debt fed through into earnings of $799m, against $4.29bn for the 2014 half year. Rio's share price was largely unmoved, however, as the market had already priced in the implications of the existing glut in world iron markets.
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Rio Tinto has continued to drive up capacity in Australia's Pilbara region despite growing evidence of an industrial slowdown in China. Global production of 154m tonnes was 11 per cent up on the 2014 half year. Rio, along with Anglo-Australian rival BHP, has attracted criticism from Australian politicians for forcing lower-margin producers out of business.