Rio Tinto's 2024 profits jump 15% despite lower revenue

The company continued "to build on the momentum with another set of strong operational and results," Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm said in a statement. Its financial performance remained resilient even though iron ore prices were significantly lower compared with the previous year, the release stated, leading to the decline in the company's overall revenue for 2024.

During last year, Rio Tinto's consolidated sales revenue totalled $53.7 billion, down by 1% on year, while its underlying earnings slid by 7.6% on year to $10.9 billion, according to the report.

The London- and Melbourne-headquartered company achieved an average iron ore price of $97.4/dmt FOB during 2024, down by 10.1% from 2023, while the net cashflow generated from its iron ore operating activities also slumped 17% on year to $11.7 billion.

Nevertheless, the decrease in global iron ore prices was partly offset by higher prices of copper, bauxite and aluminum, the release noted.

The report highlighted Rio's plans for future iron ore projects, saying that the Simandou project in southern Guinea is on track to deliver first production from the SimFer mine this year, while the Western Range project in Western Australia's Pilbara is also advancing steadily.

During 2024, Rio Tinto shipped a total of 328.6 million tonnes of iron ore (on a 100% basis) from its operations in the Pilbara, lower by 1% from the previous year due to the higher-than average-rainfall in Western Australia that affected output, according to the report.

For this year, Rio Tinto is keeping its Pilbara ore shipment guidance unchanged in the range of 323-338 million tonnes, the company says.

Written by Anthea Shi, shihui@mysteel.com

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com