RIO Tinto says it made the right move in 2007 when it splashed out US$38b ($44.43b) to acquire Alcan, after BHP Billiton claimed the purchase had been too expensive.
The criticism on the part of BHP focused attention on the company’s aluminium profits, even though Rio Tinto announced a record first-half profit of $8.01b.
Aluminium operations earnings were found to have fallen by a third, down to US$1.04b ($1.21b). The company says the earnings potential from Alcan will take a number of years to become apparent, and said the aluminium performance will improve.
It is also expecting to save around US$1.1b ($1.28b) a year just from the combination with Alcan, while aluminium demand is expected to be robust.

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