Company: RTNTF
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001628280-25-006642
Chunk: 48

Company: RIO TINTO LTD
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form: 20-F
Chunk 48
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 1,302 |    619 | 110%   |
| Underlying return on capital employed²                      |    10% |     3% |        |

1. Capital expenditure is the net cash outflow on purchases less sales of property, plant and equipment; capitalised evaluation costs; and purchases less sales of other intangible assets. It excludes equity accounted units (EAUs). 2. Underlying return on capital employed (ROCE) is defined as underlying earnings excluding net interest divided by average capital employed. Financial performance Overall we delivered a significant uplift in profitability for our Aluminium business with a 61% increase in underlying EBITDA to $3.7 billion , underlying EBITDA margin rising nine percentage points to 30% and underlying ROCE of 10% . We saw an 8% increase in the average LME price with price support from high alumina costs and the cancellation of Chinese VAT rebates on the export of semi-finished goods. Market-related costs for key materials such as caustic, coke and pitch moderated with some of this flowing through to underlying EBITDA, offsetting some of the impact of a higher alumina price. Higher bauxite volumes from record annual production at Gove and Amrun and increased bauxite pricing were partially offset by lower alumina production following the breakage of a third-party gas pipeline in Queensland. We achieved an average realised aluminium price of $ 2,834 per tonne, 4% higher than 2023. The average realised aluminium price comprises the LME price, a market premium and a value-added product (VAP) premium. The cash LME price averaged $ 2,419 per tonne, 8% higher than 2023, while in our key US market, the Midwest premium duty paid, which is 59% of our total volumes (2023: 57%), decreased by 17% to $427 per tonne (2023: $512 per tonne). Our VAP sales represented 46% of the primary metal we sold (2023: 46%) and generated product premiums averaging $295 per tonne of VAP sold (2023: $354 per tonne). Our cash generation also improved significantly, with net cash generated from operating activities of $3.0 billion , a rise of 53% , compared with 2023. Free cash flow of $1.3 billion reflected capital investment in the business of $1.7 billion . Review of operations