Article by Mark Beyer courtesy of Business News.
Gina Rinehart’s private company has posted an 80 per cent jump in profit on the back of higher iron ore prices while also revealing big gains from its shares portfolio.
Hancock Prospecting announced today its net profit after tax had increased to $7.3 billion for the year to June 2021.
That’s up from $4.1 billion in the prior year and just $443 million in FY16.
The largest contributor to Hancock’s profit was its 70 per cent owned subsidiary Roy Hill Holdings, which last week announced a $4.4 billion annual profit.
After paying out all debt, Roy Hill declared $4.1 billion of dividends during the financial year, with a further dividend of $1.5 billion declared on 30 September.
A second big contributor was Hancock’s 50 per cent stake in the Hope Downs iron ore joint venture which is operated by Rio Tinto.
The Hope Downs mines continued to operate at capacity, producing 49.6 million tonnes in FY21.
The third contributor to Hancock’s profit was its wholly-owned subsidiary Atlas Iron, which announced earlier this week it had doubled annual profit to $938 million.
Another positive for Hancock was its decision to establish an equities investment portfolio during the year with a focus on future metals such as copper, rare earths and lithium.
The company said this strategy produced an overall return of more than 60 per cent, with the initial investment of $669 million worth $1.07 billion by June 30.
More to come
