Rio Tinto has committed an additional AUS$2.5 billion to its ongoing share buy-back programme, returning the proceeds of the sale of Coal & Allied to its shareholders.
The capital return programme will be executed through a combination of an off-market buy-back tender, targeting AUS$700 million (approximately AUS$560 million) of Rio Tinto Limited shares, with the balance of approximately AUS$1.9 billion of additional funds being allocated to Rio Tinto’s existing on-market purchases of Rio Tinto plc shares (the Programme).
The announcement brings the total of Rio Tinto share buy-backs announced during 2017 to AUS$4 billion, comprising the AUS$2.5 billion committed and the AUS$500 million and AUS$1 billion on-market share buy-back programmes of Rio Tinto plc shares, announced on 8 February 2017 and 2 August 2017.
Rio Tinto Chief Executive J-S Jacques said “Returning the AUS$2.5 billion proceeds from our Coal & Allied divestment shows our continued commitment to delivering superior value and returning cash to our shareholders. This year we have announced cash returns to shareholders of AUS$8.2 billion, comprising AUS$4.2 billion of dividends and AUS$4 billion of share buy-backs. Shareholder returns of this scale are made possible by maintaining the strongest balance sheet in the sector and a disciplined capital allocation process.”