BHP Billiton Second-Half Profit Misses Estimates

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP), the world's largest mining company, said its second-quarter profit doubled to $6.587 billion from $3.26 billion a year ago, but that missed the consensus estimate of $7.2 billion.

Higher demand for industrial metals like copper, iron ore and nickel coupled with an uptick in coal demand helped drive the company's bottom line.

The company pared its debt load by 41% to $3.3 billion. One analyst quoted in a Bloomberg News piece said BHP's free cash generation was strong enough to support it's $38.6 billion bid for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT).

The acquisition would be BHP’s biggest since buying WMC Resources Ltd. in 2005, according to Bloomberg.