Rio Tinto FY21 Profit Surges On Prices; Declares Dividend; Backs FY22 Production View

(RTTNews) - Rio Tinto Plc. (RTPPF.PK, RIO.L, RIO, RTNTF.PK) reported Wednesday that its fiscal 2021 profit after tax attributable to owners of Rio Tinto surged 116 percent to $21.09 billion from last year's $9.77 billion, reflecting higher prices.

Underlying earnings were $21.4 billion or 1,321.1 US cents per share, 72 percent above 2020's 770 US cents per share.

Underlying EBITDA climbed 58 percent to $37.72 billion, with an underlying EBITDA margin of 57 percent.

Consolidated sales revenue grew 42 percent to $63.50 billion from last year's $44.61 billion.

Further, the company declared its highest total dividend ever of 1,040 US cents per share, including a 247 US cents per share special dividend, representing a 79 percent payout. The final ordinary dividend is 417 US cents per share and final special dividend is 62 US cents per share.

Looking ahead, the company said production guidance is unchanged from fourth quarter operations Review.

In 2022, the company expects Pilbara iron ore unit cash costs to increase to $19.5-$21.0 per tonne.