Iron ore prices deflate BHP Billiton profits

Feb 8, 2012, 0:38 GMT

Sydney - Anglo-Australian mining company BHP Billiton Ltd on Wednesday reported a 5.5-per-cent fall in half-year profits to 9.9 billion US dollars from 10.5 billion US dollars in the same period in 2010.

Lower iron ore prices explained the dip in profit over the six months ending in December, on revenues that were up 9.7 per cent to 37.5 billion US dollars from 34.1 billion US dollars in the equivalent reporting period.

The profit figure was marginally lower than analysts were expecting from the world's biggest mining company.

The company said the results reflected slower economic activity in China and India. The United States and Japan had shown stronger levels of growth, it said in a statement.

Shares fell 31 cents to 37.59 Australian dollars in early trading on the Australian stock exchange.

Link: http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20120208/pdf/42473c44npfx87.pdf

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