Rio Tinto's (NYSE:RTP) net profit surged in the first half, with earnings increasing by 125 percent to $5.77 billion, up from $2.56 billion in the same half last year. Analysts had expected earnings of $5.38 billion.
Underlying earnings were $1.62 billion last year, which was different from the net earnings because of an adjustment coming from $827 million in derivative gains.
Also helping the performance of Rio Tinto in the first half was the prices of the major commodities it produces, which were all up significantly.
Leading the way were copper and molybdenum prices, which were both up by 78 percent from the first half of 2009. Aluminum prices increased by 50 percent during the same period, while gold moved up 26 percent.
Rio slashed their debt load to $12 billion, down from the $18.9 billion they had on the books at the end of 2009.
Rio Tinto's CEO Tom Albanese said on commodity demand going forward, "Global growth of nearly four per cent is predicted by the IMF for both this and next year, with Chinese GDP expected to grow at approximately nine per cent. This would have positive implications for metals and minerals markets but it is clear that economic conditions on a global scale will be volatile. Our longer term view remains that industrialization and urbanization in China, followed by India, will drive robust commodity demand growth."
The company has committed about $6 billion in capital expenditures to expand their operations over the next 12 months.
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