Mining company Rio Tinto is presenting to investors in Sydney on Monday. Credit:Bloomberg At $US3.94 billion, Rio's underlying earnings were up a massive 152 per cent compared to the first six months of 2016, when it recorded underlying earnings of $US1.56 billion. But the result was slightly below forecasts of analysts. Rio Tinto chief executive JS Jacques was upbeat when discussing the results in a conference call with media on Wednesday afternoon. "Three billion of cash returns for shareholders is a very good return for shareholders and we expect them to be very happy," he said. "Our mission is to deliver superior cash return for shareholders," he said.

Rio Tinto Chairman Jan du Plessis. Credit:Daniel Munoz "When you go through the results that we've published today, I believe there is always room for improvement, but I believe we've got the chemistry right here," he said. Mr Jacques also said the company had produced operating cash flow of $6.3 billion and met its $2 billion cash cost reduction target six months early. "We are now shifting gear to focus on the untapped value from our productivity programme and continue to strengthen our portfolio to build higher returns for the future. We announced the sale of our thermal coal business in Australia for $2.7 billion and are making good progress on our compelling growth projects – Oyu Tolgoi, Amrun and Silvergrass." Rio's dividend equates to about 50 per cent of the company's underlying earnings. In February 2016 Rio abandoned its so-called "progressive" dividend policy, replacing it with a policy under which between 40 and 60 per cent of underlying earnings would be paid out in dividends.

Rio Tinto chief financial officer Chris Lynch told Fairfax Media the interim dividend was an "all-time record for the company, for an interim dividend" and was a "great outcome for our shareholders". The dividend will be paid on Thursday, September 21. Mr Lynch said while Rio faced challenges in some areas in the first half of the year, the company had plans for "catching-up" on those issues in the second half. "The fundamental thing is that the businesses are in good shape. Our main market is China and it's been very very strong and showing good resilience. So all up we're in a very good position. We fully expect there'll be volatility in prices, but we work on the things that we think we can control," he said.

"Prices generally have been reasonably strong (in the first half), we've had pretty good iron ore pricing, notwithstanding it's been volatile through the half," he said. Analysts from Macquarie described the Rio results as being "broadly in line with our expectations". In early trade on Wednesday morning in London, after the results were released, Rio shares were down 1.8 per cent. Loading

On the Australian market on Wednesday Rio Tinto fell in early trading before bouncing around for the rest of the morning and trading as low as $65.45 at one point. Shares in Rio spent most of the afternoon in a narrow band between $65.50 and $65.60, before rising in the final half-hour and closing at $65.84, down 11 cents on its previous close.