Revenues and earnings
- Consolidated sales revenues of $18.0 billion in the first half, $6.4 billion lower than the same period of last year, reflecting a $7.1 billion reduction due to the decline in commodity prices.
- EBITDA margin of 38 per cent, compared with 41 per cent in 2014 first half.
- Underlying earnings of $2.9 billion, $2.2 billion lower than 2014 first half, with cost improvements, lower energy costs and positive currency movements offsetting nearly 40 per cent of the $3.6 billion (post-tax) impact of lower prices.
- Underlying earnings per share of 159.1 US cents.
- Net earnings of $0.8 billion reflect non-cash exchange rate and derivative losses of $1.3 billion, impairment charges of $0.4 billion, mainly related to Energy Resources of Australia, legacy remediation costs of $0.2 billion and general restructuring and headcount reduction costs of $0.1 billion.
Production
- Delivered strong operational performances in iron ore, bauxite, hard coking coal and aluminium.
Cash flow and balance sheet
- Achieved $0.6 billion of sustainable operating cash cost improvements (including exploration and evaluation savings).
- Generated net cash from operating activities of $4.4 billion, as lower taxes paid and stable working capital in period partly offset the impact of lower prices.
- Tight management of trade working capital generated a $30 million inflow of cash in 2015 first half, compared with a $0.8 billion outflow in 2014 first half.
- Reduced capital expenditure by $1.4 billion to $2.5 billion, including $1.2 billion of sustaining capex, which reflected the completion of major projects and continued capital discipline.
- Maintained a strong balance sheet with net debt increasing by $1.2 billion in the six month period to $13.7 billion at 30 June 2015, resulting in net gearing of 21 per cent.
Capital returns
- Returned $3.2 billion to shareholders in 2015 first half including the 2014 final dividend of $2.2 billion and $1.0 billion of share buy-backs, comprising $0.4 billion off-market in Rio Tinto Limited and $0.6 billion on-market in Rio Tinto plc. In July, a further $0.2 billion of Rio Tinto plc shares were purchased as part of the ongoing programme.
- Increased interim dividend per share by 12 per cent to 107.5 US cents, in line with our policy of setting the interim dividend at half of the total dividend per share for the prior year.
