Australia-based miner Rio Tinto has announced its financial results for 2020, posting a net profit of $9.77 billion for the given year, rising by 22 percent compared to the previous year. In 2020, the company’s consolidated sales revenues increased by 3.2 percent to $44.6 billion compared to 2019. The company’s underlying EBITDA in the given period totaled $23.90 billion, increasing by 13 percent year on year.
Rio Tinto has updated its assessment of its iron ore reserves, removing 54 million dry tonnes from its reserves following its destruction of an Aboriginal heritage site at the Juukan Gorge rock shelters. The company’s iron ore reserves totaled 3.05 billion mt at the end of 2020 across its Pilbara mines.
The company delivered a record dividend of $5.57 per share due to sharp increases in iron ore prices since the previous year.
The company expects its capital expenditure of $6.19 billion in 2020 to be around $7.5 billion in each of 2021 and 2022. Rio Tinto’s Pilbara iron ore shipment guidance for 2021 has increased slightly to 325-340 million mt, from the previous guidance of 324-334 million mt, as SteelOrbis previously reported. Meanwhile, the company aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
