As dividend stalwarts such as HSBC and Royal Dutch Shell slash their payouts in response to Covid-19, mining giants such as Rio Tinto are accounting for an increasing share of the returns on offer to London investors (Emily Gosden writes).
The Anglo-Australian group reported “resilient” half-year results yesterday, with underlying ebitda (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) down a modest 6 per cent to $9.6 billion.
It declared an interim dividend of $2.5 billion, 3 per cent up on a year ago, although this year there is no special dividend on top. The Link Group estimates that Rio will be the fourth biggest payer of dividends to London investors this year.
Rio Tinto is one of the world’s biggest mining groups. Although it produces
