Rio Tinto posts 75 percent rise in profit

The mining company Rio Tinto Plc disclosed that its profit rose 75.3 percent year on year to $3.8 billion in the first half of 2006. Rio Tinto said it would expand production in an effort to meet the growing demand from China. Analysts now expect Rio Tinto, which is listed on stock exchanges in Australia and London, to report profit for 2006 of about $8 billion.