Falling prices bite into Rio profits

Falling commodity prices has seen major Rio Tinto report a 43% drop in net earnings for the six months to June, compared with the previous corresponding period.


The miner on Wednesday announced a profit after tax of $5.1-billion, down from the $8.9-billion in the previous corresponding period, while underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) decreased from $15.5-billion to $11.7-billion.