Rio Tinto Chief Executive, J-S Jacques, reported: "We have reported another strong set of results with underlying EBITDA of US$9.2 billion and operating cash flow of US$5.2 billion. In a favourable market environment, our Tier 1 assets and strong operational capability have achieved a 43% EBITDA margin. Inflationary pressures are being experienced across the industry, but we have been able to offset these through our mine-to-market productivity programme.”

"As a result, we continue to deliver superior shareholder returns with a record interim dividend of US$2.2 billion and a US$1.0 billion top-up to our existing share buy-back programme. In addition, in 2018 we have announced US$5.0 billion of divestments.”

"We will continue to invest in Tier 1 growth, further strengthen our portfolio and maintain a strong balance sheet in order to deliver superior returns to shareholders in the short, medium and long term."

For full results: http://www.riotinto.com/media/media-releases-237_25976.aspx