BHP posted an eight percent decline in interim profit today as copper earnings slumped because of declining ore quality at its Escondida mine and a number of production outages globally, said Reuters.
Underlying profit from continuing operations for the six months that ended on December 31 fell to $4.03bn from $4.40bn a year ago, said Reuters citing a company statement. The fall in underlying profit missed consensus estimates compiled by Vuma Financial of $4.2bn.
Underlying profit is watched by analysts and investors as a measure of the company’s performance exclusive of one-time gains and losses, said Reuters.
Revenue from continuing operations rose one percent during the period to $20.7bn whilst revenue from iron ore mining, its biggest division, rose by 2.7%. Copper revenues slumped 17.3% due to unplanned production outages at its Olympic Dam and Spence projects.
Earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortization from copper fell nearly 40% in the first half, said Reuters.
