Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) Announces Strong Financial Performance for 2024
Financial Performance
Rio Tinto reported a profit after tax of $11.6 billion for the year ended December 2024, a 15% increase from 2023. Underlying EBITDA stood at $23.3 billion, despite an 11% drop in iron ore prices. Net cash generated from operations rose by 3% to $15.6 billion.
Dividend Announcement
The company declared a full-year ordinary dividend of $6.5 billion, maintaining a 60% payout ratio—marking the ninth consecutive year at the top end of the payout range.
Operational Achievements
Operational performance improved with over 1% production growth and a 3% increase in sales volumes on a copper equivalent basis. The Safe Production System was deployed at approximately 80% of sites, contributing to a 5 million-tonne production uplift for Pilbara Iron Ore for the second consecutive year. Key projects include the commissioning of ventilation shafts and conveyors at Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia and the SimFer mine at Simandou in Guinea, expected to commence production in March 2025. Additionally, Rio Tinto approved a $6.7 billion acquisition of Arcadium Lithium and a $2.5 billion expansion of the Rincon lithium project in Argentina.
Safety and Environmental Updates
Safety remains a priority, with five fatalities reported in 2024 due to a plane crash and contractor-related incidents. Rio Tinto reduced its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 14% from the 2018 baseline, achieving 30.7Mt CO₂e. Investments in renewable energy and innovative processes like BioIron are underway to further reduce emissions.
Executive Comments
CEO Jakob Stausholm stated, “We continue to build on our momentum with another set of strong operational and financial results. We are increasing our investments to underpin our plans for a decade of profitable growth.”
Motley Fool contributor Matt Burgess has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.
This article was generated using GPT-4o mini, a Large Language Model (LLM), to generate summaries of investing news. While AI is generating the content, we know better than to blindly trust our future robot overlords, and every article is edited and fact-checked by an editor holding the appropriate credentials. The Motley Fool Australia stands behind the work of our editorial team and takes ultimate responsibility for the content of everything published by The Capital Club.