RIO.L - Rio Tinto Group
| Previous Close | 4,026.00 |
| Open | 4,040.00 |
| Bid | 3,600.00 x 0 |
| Ask | 4,980.00 x 0 |
| Day's Range | 3,990.50 - 4,056.00 |
| 52 Week Range | 3,460.50 - 5,039.00 |
| Volume | 2,576,525 |
| Avg. Volume | 3,586,917 |
| Market Cap | 67.681B |
| Beta (3Y Monthly) | 1.03 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 5.02 |
| EPS (TTM) | 797.40 |
| Earnings Date | N/A |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | 2.59 (6.44%) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | 2019-08-08 |
| 1y Target Est | 53.70 |
- Bloomberg
Rio Tinto CEO Defends Company as ‘Cash Machine’ Amid Stock Retreat
(Bloomberg) -- As plummeting iron ore prices weighed on Rio Tinto Group’s stock for a seventh-straight trading day, CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques defended the miner as a “cash machine” that will keep rewarding shareholders.“We have a cash machine,” the chief executive officer said Thursday in an interview on Bloomberg TV. The “strong quality of the asset portfolio will generate cash no matter where we are in the cycle.”The world’s second-largest miner had been on a roll this year, with a strong first half anchored by surging prices for iron ore more than offsetting operational setbacks at its top-earning business. But prices for the key steelmaking ingredient have tumbled this month, and taken Rio with it. The London-based company’s shares have fallen 12% since July 30.Another looming hurdle for Rio has been slowing growth in China, by far the world’s biggest steel producer. Jacques tried to ease those concerns by saying that the Asian nation would use stimulus spending to maintain steel production, including by rebuilding older cities.“One thing that maybe people don’t see clearly is China is launching, or is going to launch, a program to renew the cities, the buildings that were constructed 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago,” Jacques said. “We fully acknowledge that China is slowing down, but as expected China is managing the slowdown pretty well.”\--With assistance from Thomas Biesheuvel.To contact the reporters on this story: Matt Townsend in New York at mtownsend9@bloomberg.net;Joe Deaux in New York at jdeaux@bloomberg.net;Jonathan Ferro in London at jferro10@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Luzi Ann Javier at ljavier@bloomberg.net, Steven FrankFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Thomson Reuters StreetEvents
Edited Transcript of RIO.L earnings conference call or presentation 1-Aug-19 9:00am GMT
Half Year 2019 Rio Tinto PLC Earnings Call
- Bloomberg
The Top Miners Are Split on How to Chase the EV Battery Boom
(Bloomberg) -- The world’s biggest miners, including BHP Group and Glencore Plc, are finally firm believers in the electric vehicle battery revolution -- what they don’t agree on is which metals will deliver the best long-term exposure to the developing global market.BHP has revived a declining nickel unit in Western Australia to target the sector, while Rio Tinto Group is accelerating work to enter the lithium market. Glencore is focusing on cobalt and copper and Anglo American Plc is examining prospects for platinum and palladium to be deployed in future battery technologies.“We did a review of all the battery input materials -- nickel, cobalt, lithium,” said Eduard Haegel, asset president at the BHP’s Nickel West unit. “We think that in the medium-to-longer term there will be a margin that will be sticky for nickel -- we think it’s an attractive commodity.”BHP, the biggest miner, this year reversed long-term efforts to seek a buyer for the division, opting to retain Nickel West to benefit from forecast growth in lithium-ion batteries and a scarcity of high-quality nickel supply. From the second quarter of 2020, the unit will begin production of bright-turquoise colored nickel sulphate -- a premium raw material for the battery supply chain -- from a nickel refinery south of Perth, with plans to potentially carry out the industry’s largest expansion.The outlook for battery materials is firming as governments set targets on phasing out combustion engine vehicles, and as automakers commit to expanding line-ups of electric models, according to Angela Durrant, a Sydney-based principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie Ltd. “The demand profile is certainly becoming more clear,’’ she said.Deployment of more than 140 million electric vehicles by 2030 will require 3 million tons more copper a year, 1.3 million tons of nickel and about 263,000 tons of cobalt, according to Glencore Plc’s forecasts. By 2040, almost 60% of new vehicle sales and about a third of cars on the road will be electric, BloombergNEF said in a May report.BHP sees an abundant global supply of lithium, and regards cobalt as at risk of substitution, reducing the attractiveness of both commodities, Chief Financial Officer Peter Beaven said in a May speech. Rio also remains wary over cobalt, while Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg said in 2017 the company has “zero interest’’ in lithium, in part because of a lack of arbitrage opportunities.Picking winners hasn’t been helped by price gyrations. Key battery metals have faltered in the past year after dramatic gains. That’s chiefly been on concern that incumbents and new producers have added too much volume too quickly, as well as on short-term worries over a slower pace of growth in China’s electric vehicle market, the world’s largest.Lithium prices tripled between mid-2015 and May last year on fears of shortages and have since slumped more than a third as new mines started up. Cobalt in London quadrupled in the two years to March 2018 before tumbling by almost three-quarters.Even as they warm to the battery theme, major mining companies aren’t yet prepared to move beyond familiar commodities and remain cautious on acquisitions, said Robert Baylis, managing director at Roskill Information Services Ltd. “They don’t want to stray too far from the nest,’’ he said. “Some miners have instead concentrated on developing their own existing projects.’’Base metals are more traditional ground for the largest producers, and nickel is increasingly in focus. Vale SA’s Indonesian unit and partners have outlined plans to invest about $5 billion on nickel projects, in part aimed at the battery market, while Rio has expanded exploration work to find new deposits in nations including Uganda and Finland.BHP’s sales to the battery sector of nickel products now account for more than 75% of the unit’s total production, up from less than 5% in 2016, according to Haegel, who will speak Monday at the Diggers and Dealers mining forum in Kalgoorlie, alongside Rio’s head of growth and innovation, Stephen McIntosh.“It makes sense that these companies are primarily focused on copper and nickel,” said Sophie Lu, Sydney-based head of mining and metals for BNEF. The companies typically already have producing assets and both metals “display significant growth potential in the future from batteries,” she said.Nickel has jumped about a third this year as global inventories decline amid better demand in traditional stainless steel markets and expectations for longer-term battery growth. Battery-grade nickel may face a deficit by 2024 as demand rises, according to BNEF.“We’ll always say they are a lithium battery, but actually the weight is in the nickel – that’s the biggest volume of material,’’ said Wood Mackenzie’s Durrant.To contact the reporter on this story: David Stringer in Melbourne at dstringer3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net, Keith Gosman, Phoebe SedgmanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Simply Wall St.
Should You Buy Rio Tinto Group (LON:RIO) For Its Upcoming Dividend In 3 Days?
It looks like Rio Tinto Group (LON:RIO) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 3 days. This means that investors who...
Motley FoolRio Tinto plc (RIO) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Transcript
RIO earnings call for the period ending June 30, 2019.
- Reuters
UPDATE 2-Shell, Fed stance weigh on FTSE 100; BoE action hurts mid-caps
London's FTSE 100 ended flat on Thursday despite a profit miss from Shell and dampened hopes of big U.S. interest rate cuts, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 index slipped after Brexit worries led the Bank of England to cut its growth forecasts. Losses were contained by BAT and as London Stock Exchange surged 6.5% to an all-time high after a deal to buy financial information firm Refinitiv, in which Reuters News parent Thomson Reuters holds a 45% stake.
- Reuters
Rio Tinto addresses operational problems, delivers record payout
Rio Tinto announced its highest margins in a decade and a record dividend payout on Thursday, but acknowledged it was grappling with operational issues in Australia and Mongolia. Rio's shares were down 3.4% by 1330 GMT in London. Analysts cited macro-economic tensions as a reason for caution, as growth slows in China, Rio's biggest customer for iron ore.
- Bloomberg
Glencore’s Troubles Pile Up While Rivals Get Rich on Iron Ore
(Bloomberg) -- The bad news just keeps coming for Glencore Plc -- this time out of Africa.The commodities giant has had a tough few years, from corruption probes to getting caught up in the fallout from U.S. sanctions on Russia. This year, it’s been forced to watch from the sidelines a breathtaking rally in iron ore, a metal Glencore doesn’t produce at all, while rivals like BHP Group and Rio Tinto Group cash in.The list of headaches got a little longer Wednesday, as the company warned it will take a $350 million hit to its fabled trading business when it reports first-half earnings next week, after prices for cobalt plunged. Glencore also signaled it’s likely to cut the target for copper production this year as it struggles with mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.Glencore has underperformed its major rivals this year, even after announcing bumper share buybacks. While other producers benefit from the rally in iron ore, the pressure on Glencore’s shares from probes by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Department of Justice has been compounded by a rout in prices for thermal coal, one of the company’s major profit drivers.“With still no certainty on the DoJ investigation, a lack of momentum in operations, with lower coal prices eroding cash flows, the current discount in Glencore shares is likely to persist in the absence of more significant management action,” said Tyler Broda, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. “The cobalt price drop continues to wreak havoc on the marketing books.”Cobalt has quickly transformed from a star performer to a headache for the world’s biggest producer of the key battery ingredient. After quadrupling in two years, prices have now collapsed back to the lowest since 2016 as new supplies pour into the market. With few hedging tools available, that’s left Glencore exposed.Excluding the cobalt loss, Glencore expects first-half trading profit of about $1.3 billion. It said previously that full-year profit for the unit would be toward the middle of its $2.2 billion to $3.2 billion long-term range.Glencore has cut its cobalt sales in response to falling prices, but is still mining the metal from its African copper mines. The company said the loss from cobalt will be principally non-cash and described the inventories it’s holding as an “unrealised profit lag.” Effectively, the company’s marketing business has bought the cobalt from its mining unit, but has yet to sell it.Read: Cobalt’s Drop to 2-Year Low Tarnishes Glencore’s Trading JewelThe disappointing trading performance is a blow for Glencore, which has always said its traders can make money in any kind of market. The company touts the unit as a differentiator from other big miners, cushioning the ups and downs of the commodities cycle. The marketing unit deals in almost 100 raw materials including oil and agricultural products.Last year’s trading profit was $2.4 billion, the lowest since 2013, with Glencore pointing to weak results from cobalt and alumina trades.The cobalt losses aren’t Glencore’s only headache from its African copper business, which operates mines across the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.Glencore’s Katanga Mining Ltd. unit, where the company has taken tighter control after Canadian regulators fined and banned executives, is reviewing its mine plans and is likely to lower output expectations. Glencore’s Peter Freyberg, who has joined Katanga’s board, will discuss the turnaround plan at the company’s earnings next week.“Our African copper business did not meet expected operational performance,” billionaire Chief Executive Officer Ivan Glasenberg said in a statement. “We have moved to address the challenges at Katanga with several management changes as well as overseeing a detailed operational review.”While African copper is a relatively small part of Glencore’s overall business, the unit gets a disproportionate amount of interest from investors given both its role as one of the company’s key drivers of growth and a source of legal and operational risks.When the company reports earnings next week, analysts are expecting sharply weaker results.It’s been a different story for Glencore’s rivals this year. Even though Rio Tinto has struggled at its giant iron ore mines in the Pilbara, it’s been bailed out by the surge in prices and is expected to report a big jump in profits tomorrow. Anglo American Plc last week reported bumper earnings, driven by iron ore.To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Biesheuvel in London at tbiesheuvel@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Liezel Hill, Nicholas LarkinFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Simply Wall St.
What Do Investors Need To Know About Rio Tinto Group's (LON:RIO) Future?
In December 2018, Rio Tinto Group (LON:RIO) released its earnings update. Generally, the consensus outlook from...
- Simply Wall St.
What Kind Of Shareholders Own Rio Tinto Group (LON:RIO)?
A look at the shareholders of Rio Tinto Group (LON:RIO) can tell us which group is most powerful. Generally speaking...
- Bloomberg
Mining Executives Split on Who Bears Burden of Climate Change
(Bloomberg) -- The mining industry is starting to split on who bears responsibility for all the carbon emissions caused by smelting iron ore into steel.The debate came to the forefront this week after BHP Group’s chief said miners need to tackle their role in global warming through the products they sell. The core of BHP’s business, digging up iron ore in Australia, is a key part of making steel, an energy-intensive process that accounts for about 7% to 9% of all man-made carbon emissions.It’s a controversial view in the industry and opposed by Rio Tinto Group, which has argued that targets for indirect emissions are beyond its control. Anglo American Plc weighed in for the first time on Thursday, saying it’s too early to address pollution created by customers.“We’re somewhere in between the two,” said Anglo Chief Executive Officer Mark Cutifani, referring to the stances taken by BHP and Rio Tinto. “There is a bit more work to be done on our side before we decide whether we can commit.”“Once you take a position you’re committed. We want to make sure it’s exactly the right position to take,” he said.Read: BHP Pledges $400 Million in Climate Change InvestmentThe debate among the world’s top miners shows how climate and global warming is becoming a bigger issue facing all companies. Executives face growing pressure from investor groups, who argue for more stringent targets on emissions, and the threat of divestment if they don’t comply.To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Biesheuvel in London at tbiesheuvel@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Liezel HillFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters
Contingenciamento poderia ser R$10,3 bi maior por conta de Estados e municípios, aponta Economia
Governo anunciou um congelamento de R$ 1,4 bi. Ministério da Economia diz que necessidade de limitação seria na realidade de R$ 2,2 bilhões
- Bloomberg
Iron Ore Market Looks to Top Miner for Clues on End to Shortages
(Bloomberg) -- Vale SA’s second-quarter production due next week may offer clues on whether the world’s largest iron ore producer could provide some relief to a market reeling from shortages that sent prices to a five-year high.Analysts, on average, expect the Rio de Janeiro-based miner to report Monday that output of the steelmaking ingredient rebounded to 74.6 million metric tons, from 72.9 million in the three months ended March, according to five estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That’s still below the 96.8 million tons Vale produced in the second quarter last year.A dam collapse in January forced the company to halt operations with capacity equal to almost a quarter of this year’s original production target of 400 million tons. While Vale has managed to bring its 30-million ton Brucutu mine back to normal operations, that hasn’t halted the surge in prices. Rivals BHP Group and Rio Tinto Group also saw their output decline, deepening the supply shortfall."The focus should be around plans for restarting any additional capacity," Scott Schier, an analyst at Clarksons Platou Securities, said in an interview. "There’s been some chatter about a potential restart of some more operation in September-October."Iron ore prices have surged more than 60% this year in Singapore this year amid the supply disruptions in Brazil and Australia. Futures closed 3% higher at 916 yuan ($133.10) a ton on the Dalian Commodity Exchange Friday, the highest since December 2013.In May, Vale Chief Financial Officer Luciano Siani Pires said the company expects to bring back online another 30 million tons in shuttered capacity over the next six to 12 months, after Brucutu returns to normal operations. Reviving the remaining 30 million tons would take another two to three years. The miner has maintained its 2019 sales guidance for iron ore and the semi-processed material called pellets at 307 million to 332 million tons.HSBC Holdings Plc analysts expect a tighter iron ore market longer-term because of "significant supply disruptions," and better demand prospects through 2021. The bank raised its 2019 price forecast for iron ore to $95 a ton, from $82.80 in mid-July.Rio Tinto’s iron ore production fell 7% to 80 million tons in the second quarter from a year earlier, as a result of a cyclone and operational challenges at its mines. Annual output from BHP’s Australian mines slipped about 2% to 269.6 million tons, missing an average forecast of 272 million tons among five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.Vale’s iron ore and pellets sales likely rebounded to 70.6 million tons in the second quarter, from 67.7 million three months earlier, according to the average of five analyst estimates. That’s still down from 86.5 million tons a year earlier."We expect supply will take at least two to three years to normalize given the magnitude of the tragedy at Vale," HSBC analysts including Jonathan Brandt said in a note July 14. "A combination of supply disruption from the major iron ore producers and better-than-expected steel production in China has led to a significant rally in iron ore prices."To contact the reporters on this story: Vinícius Andrade in São Paulo at vandrade3@bloomberg.net;Sabrina Valle in Rio de Janeiro at svalle@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Luzi Ann Javier at ljavier@bloomberg.net, ;Brad Olesen at bolesen3@bloomberg.net, Joe RichterFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Motley Fool
Here's Why Turquoise Hill Resources Tumbled Today
The copper and gold miner reported solid second-quarter 2019 production results, but announced mounting challenges at an important growth asset.
- Reuters
Rio Tinto hits cost blowout at Mongolia copper expansion
Rio said the delay stemmed from the project's challenging geology. Rio said first production could be achieved between May 2022 and June 2023, a delay of 16 to 30 months, while the capital cost of the project was estimated at $6.5 billion to $7.2 billion, up from an original estimate of $5.3 billion. The news of the blowout came as Rio reported a 3.5% drop in second-quarter iron ore shipments, as disruptions caused by tropical cyclone Veronica in late March squeezed output in the April-June period.
- Market Realist
China’s Iron Ore Imports Drop, Will Prices Stay Elevated?
China consumes more than 70% of seaborne-traded iron ore. As a result, iron ore investors should track China's demand and outlook. Today, China released its trade data for June. China's iron ore imports were 75.18 million tons in June—9.7% lower YoY (year-over-year) and 10.2% lower month-over-month. In June, China's imports fell to the lowest level […]
- Simply Wall St.
Rio Tinto Group (LON:RIO) Delivered A Better ROE Than Its Industry
One of the best investments we can make is in our own knowledge and skill set. With that in mind, this article will...
- Bloomberg
Australian Thermal Coal Leaves Investors Cold
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- When you’re in the business of buying and selling, timing is everything.That’s the costly lesson facing BHP Group, which is looking at options to divest its thermal coal assets according to a report Thursday by Thomas Biesheuvel of Bloomberg News that cited people familiar with the matter.Arch-rival Rio Tinto Group raised $2.7 billion selling mines in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney to Yancoal Australia Ltd., in a process that started in 2016. BHP could get far less: Macquarie Group Ltd. estimates $1.6 billion. That’s despite the fact that BHP’s Mount Arthur and Cerrejon mines, in the Hunter Valley and Colombia, post roughly the same Ebitda as as the ones Rio Tinto sold. BHP has had good reasons to keep operating these mines. They’ve produced several years of good earnings, for one. Mount Arthur has probably been even more profitable than it looks on paper, thanks to its ability to utilize tax losses that will now be running low.Still, it will be galling to sell at a discount when the long-term price for the high-energy coal mined in the Hunter Valley is now about a third higher than the $63 a metric ton level at the time Rio Tinto’s deal was announced.What’s changed? More or less everything.Back in 2016, coal was still the lowest-cost way of delivering new generation in most major markets. The slumping price of wind and solar generation since then has changed the game. Thermal coal will fall to 11% of U.S. generation by 2030 from the mid-20s at present, S&P Global Ratings wrote in a report Wednesday; outside of Spain and Germany, most European coal-fired plants will be retired by 2025.North Asian markets supplied by Mount Arthur look like an exception, with Japan, South Korea and China making up about 80% of Australia’s thermal coal exports. The first two countries are rare cases where falling renewables costs have failed to undercut the black stuff.Even there, though, the picture is dimming: Japan’s coal-fired capacity will go into to decline starting 2023, and actual demand should fall faster since its most recent plants use fuel more efficiently, according to a report this week by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a research group opposed to fossil fuels. South Korea now has taxes on coal amounting to $60 a ton and imports will fall by half by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency.The group of potential buyers looks thin, too. Anglo American Plc, which has a one-third stake in Cerrejon alongside BHP and Glencore Plc, doesn’t seem in the mood for bulking up. The Japanese trading houses that have historically been major investors in Australia’s mining industry, meanwhile, have been quietly divesting strategic coal stakes for several years. What does that leave? Glencore, despite a promise in February to cap coal output, shouldn't be ignored. In that announcement, the commodities trader noted it may still buy out some minority stakes, which seems to anticipate a deal on Cerrejon. Glencore could also, in theory, get rid of its South African operations and replace them with Mount Arthur, keeping total output within limits and swapping in a more profitable mine. That would depend on finding a buyer for those South African mines, though, and there’s enough turmoil in that country’s coal and energy sector as it is.China is another possible buyer for Mount Arthur. The pit is adjacent to Yancoal’s existing operations, suggesting possible synergies. Still, 2019 isn’t the best year to be doing this. Since February, the country has been holding up shipments of Australian coal for ill-defined reasons that have a whiff of geopolitics about them. Any Chinese business looking for government approval to buy an Australian coal mine will have to reckon with that.Beyond that, there’s even the possibility that smaller local miners will have a go. In the old days, the idea that a relative minnow like Whitehaven Coal Ltd. could absorb a pit the size of Mount Arthur would have seemed absurd, but at Macquarie’s estimate of a $600 million price tag it’s not impossible. Based on BHP’s latest results, a buyer could pay off that sum in 18 months or so and run the mine for cash, assuming rehabilitation costs weren’t too high. Still, how times have changed. Back when Rio Tinto was hawking its coal assets, the company could plausibly argue that it still saw a bright future for the stuff. Nowadays, BHP is warning that it could be “phased out, potentially sooner than expected,” even as it’s trying to tempt buyers. Those M&A bankers are going to have their work cut out to get a good price.To contact the author of this story: David Fickling at dfickling@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Matthew Brooker at mbrooker1@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering commodities, as well as industrial and consumer companies. He has been a reporter for Bloomberg News, Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and the Guardian.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters
Shrinking demand to eclipse supply issues in tin market
The tin market is under greater pressure from an economic slowdown and falling demand than supply issues, where lower production from countries such as Myanmar is likely to be offset by a new project in central Africa. Tin prices on the London Metal Exchange at around $18,000 (£14,360) a tonne are down 15% since hitting one-year highs at $21,800 a tonne in February, when the market was fretting about record low stocks in LME approved warehouses.
