Rio Tinto maintains dividend, discloses taxes

Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO) Chairman Simon Thompson told shareholders the company will proceed with a dividend payment announced in February of $2.31 per share, or $3.7 billion, and that the payment will be made on April 16, Reuters reported today.

“We took this decision because Rio Tinto has a strong balance sheet, our operations are running safely and our order book for iron ore is full,” Reuters quoted Thompson as saying.

The company will review its 2020 interim dividend in July, it said, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

In other news, Rio Tinto announced it paid $7.6 billion in taxes and royalties globally last year, including $4.8 billion of corporate tax.

The miner said most of the taxes were paid in Australia ($6.2 billion), which is home to the largest portion of its business.

Other taxes went to Chile ($311 million), Mongolia ($305 million), Canada ($2.91 million), the United States ($178 million), the United Kingdom ($117 million) and South Africa ($80 million).

Rio Tinto said in a press release today that it was the first company – a decade ago – to voluntarily disclose its payments to governments in detail and noted that over that period it has paid more than $70 billion in taxes and royalties to countries around the world, including $52 billion paid in Australia.