Rio Tinto Results Better Than Expected

Metal prices recovered from a modest fall in the previous session on Thursday morning – three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange, for example, leapt $203 to $6,743 a tonne in early trading – following news that Chinese banks lent more money in January than in the previous three months and Australian unemployment fell in January despite expectations of a slight rise.

Dominic Turner
shareprices.com - Thursday, February 11, 2010

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Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto, the international mining group that combines Rio Tinto plc, listed on the London Stock Exchange and Rio Tinto Limited, listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, was one of the best performers in the FTSE 100, up 95.5p or 3.04% to 3,235p. The group reported a fall in underlying earnings in 2009 – including a 31% fall in earnings from its largest division, iron ore – down to $6.3 billion from $10.3 billion in 2008 and cut its final dividend by nearly 20% last year. The results were, nevertheless, better than forecast by analysts.

Rio Tinto has been in the news recently after China formally charged four of its employees – an Australian executive and three Chinese nationals – with bribery and stealing state secrets. The employees were arrested in July and have been detained ever since, creating friction between the Australian and Chinese authorities. A spokesman for the Australian government was quoted on the Al Jazeera website, saying, "We continue to emphasise to the Chinese authorities the need for the case to be handled transparently and expeditiously." No date has yet been set for the trial but it could reportedly be as soon as next month.

 

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