Rio Tinto: Delivers special dividend
About the author:
- Author name:
- By Adrian Prendergast
- Job title:
- Senior Analyst
- Date posted:
- 02 August 2019, 5:43 PM
- Sectors Covered:
- Mining, Energy
- Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) delivered a US$0.61ps special dividend (vs Morgans US$0.40ps) along with a healthy ordinary dividend of US$1.51ps (vs Morgans US$1.55ps).
- 1H’CY19 Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) of US$4,932m (vs Morgans US$5,093m) was 3% below our estimate but close to the average of consensus estimates.
- It is worth pointing out that RIO has now paid US$12bn to shareholders this year.
- Pro forma net debt dropped to US$5.6bn, just 0.25x Net Debt-to-EBITDA (ND/EBITDA).
- RIO is trading close to fair value, although has ongoing capital management potential.
Yield profile remains supportive
With little in the way of committed capex requirements, and earnings pumped up by the continuing iron ore rally, RIO pushed its payout ratio to 70% with the announcement of a special dividend of US$0.61ps (vs Morgans US$0.40ps) and ordinary dividend of US$1.51ps (vs Morgans US$1.55ps).
We also expect RIO to further grow its exploration spend and development assets (OTUG, Zulti South, Koodaideri Stage 1 & 2, and Robe River replacement volumes) in addition to greenfield projects (Resolution 0 – which is close to environmental approval, and the Winu discovery).
1H NPAT a touch below but still strong
1H’CY19 underlying Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) of US$4,932m (vs Morgans US$5,093m).
Despite lower iron ore and copper volumes, RIO managed to report 1H group EBITDA margin of 47% (vs Morgans 48%).
Supported significantly by an EBITDA margin on RIO’s Pilbara iron ore business in 1H of 72% (vs 60% a year earlier).
Higher commodity prices (mostly iron ore) positively impacted RIO’s earnings by US$1.9bn, with FX (mostly Australian dollar weakness) benefited the big miner by US$386m.
This more than offset losses from higher cash costs on lower volumes (-US$481m), and cost inflation (-US$150m).
Still work to do at OTUG
Updating the market on Oyu Tolgoi underground (OTUG) at its recent 2Q result, RIO outlined a 16-30 month delay to mid-2022-23 and capex blowout of US$1.2-$1.9bn to US$6.5-$7.2bn.
Following the large step down in valuation, RIO has written down the value of OT by US$2.3bn post-tax (US$0.8bn RIO’s share).
Stressing that it will not have to move any existing underground infrastructure, RIO is assessing how best to alter its mine plan to compensate for the rock instability encountered.
RIO expects to have an outcome by 2H’CY20.
Return profile boosts investment appeal
Recent volatility has seen RIO’s share price trade back towards our price target, which has increased (Morgans clients can view the full report & price target here) post the 1H result.
Even trading near fair value, RIO’s investment appeal remains high with an EBITDA margin of 47%, dividend yield of 6.4%, FCF yield of 8.4% and EV/EBITDA of 5.4x.
As a result we maintain our Hold recommendation. The key risk to our call remains commodity prices and macroeconomic risk (demand drivers).
More information
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