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Mining titan Rio Tinto posted a bumper rise in first-half profit as it benefited from higher commodity prices, buoyed by government stimulus spending during the pandemic.
Net earnings for the six months through June jumped to $12.31 billion, up from $3.32 billion year-on-year.
Underlying earnings more than doubled to $12.17 billion, up from $4.75 billion year-on-year.
Rio Tinto declared an interim dividend of 376p per share, more than double the 155p paid a year earlier.
The miner also declared a special dividend of 185p per share.
'Government stimulus in response to ongoing Covid-19 pressures has driven strong demand for our products at a time of constrained supply resulting in a significant spike in most prices,' chief executive Jakob Stausholm said.