Rio Tinto H1 Net Profit Down 22%

Rio Tinto PLC

reported a 22% drop in its first-half earnings. Rio Tinto's net profit dropped to US$5.89 billion, versus US$7.59 billion, in the year-ago period. Its revenue fell to US$25.34 billion from US$29.06 billion. Rio Tinto also announced its plans to pay an interim dividend of 72.5 cents per share. Its underlying earnings declined 34% to US$5.15 billion from US$7.78 billion, beating analysts' estimates of US$4.94 billion. Rio Tinto's shares closed at $48.81 yesterday.