Rio Tinto falls after reporting flat earnings amid mining sell-off
Rio Tinto Ltd (LSE:RIO, ASX:RIO, OTC:RTNTF) shares fell 4% in early trading after the miner reported flat underlying earnings of $10.9 billion for 2025, with the decline also exacerbated by a broader sell-off across the mining sector that pulled the FTSE 100 lower. Antofagasta, Glencore and...
Rio Tinto Ltd(LSE:RIOASX:RIOOTC:RTNTF) View Price & Profile Rio Tinto falls after reporting flat earnings amid mining sell-off
Published: 04:03 19 Feb 2026 EST
Rio Tinto Ltd (LSE:RIO, ASX:RIO, OTC:RTNTF) shares fell 4% in early trading after the miner reported flat underlying earnings of $10.9 billion for 2025, with the decline also exacerbated by a broader sell-off across the mining sector that pulled the FTSE 100 lower.
Antofagasta, Glencore and Anglo American joined Rio in the sick bay.
Digging into the Rio numbers, stronger copper and aluminium performance offset weaker iron ore prices, leaving underlying earnings unchanged from the previous year.
Net cash generated from operating activities rose 8% to $16.8 billion, while consolidated sales revenue increased 7% to $57.6 billion.
Management said the broadly neutral impact of price movements reflected the benefits of diversification, as a 6% fall in realised iron ore prices to $90 per dry metric tonne was offset by higher prices for bauxite, alumina, aluminium, copper and gold.
Copper equivalent production climbed 8%, driven by a 61% surge in output at the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine and higher grades at Escondida.
Copper shipments increased 12%, contributing a $2.9 billion uplift from volumes, while underlying EBITDA in the copper division more than doubled to $7.4 billion.
Iron ore underlying EBITDA declined 11% to $15.2 billion as softer prices outweighed resilient Pilbara shipments and record production since April.
Operating unit costs fell 5% in 2024 real terms, delivering a $0.8 billion benefit, although general inflation reduced EBITDA by $0.5 billion.
Free cash flow declined 28% to $4 billion as capital expenditure rose 28% to $12.3 billion.
Net debt increased to $14.4 billion after $9 billion of bond issuance to fund the Arcadium acquisition, while the board maintained a $6.5 billion dividend, equivalent to 402 US cents per share and a 60% payout ratio.