(Bloomberg) -- BHP Group Ltd.’s first-half profit slumped 23% from the year before, with the mining giant impacted by falling Chinese demand for key commodities including iron ore and copper.
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The world’s biggest public miner reported underlying attributable profit in the six months to Dec. 31 of $5.08 billion, below analyst estimates of $5.39 billion, it said in a statement Tuesday. BHP cut its interim dividend to 50 cents a share from 72 cents the year before — its lowest payout for the period since 2017.
The slip in profits continues a trend for BHP since it posted record earnings of $33.1 billion for the year to June 2022 off the back off soaring iron ore demand. Annual profits have since more than halved, with declining capital returns and rising capital expenditure weighing on its shares.
Still, Chief Executive Officer Mike Henry struck a positive tone in the statement. “The demand for BHP products remains strong despite global economic and trade uncertainties, with early signs of recovery in China, resilient economic performance in the US and strong growth in India,” he said.
Benchmark iron ore prices dipped 5% during the reporting period, while copper fell 9%.
BHP’s iron ore mines in Western Australia’s Pilbara were hit by Tropical Cyclone Zelia last week. The company said that while it was maintaining its forecast output of the steelmaking material from the region of between 282 million tons and 294 million tons for the year to June 30, it no longer expects production to be in the upper half of the range due to the impact of the storm.
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