MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Australia’s Fortescue reported its smallest full-year profit in six years, meeting analyst estimates, on Tuesday and maintained its dividend payout while reaffirming its commitment to green energy after refocusing its growth strategy.
The world’s fourth-largest iron ore miner said attributable net profit after tax came in at $3.37 billion for the year ended June 30, down from $5.68 billion a year ago. That compares with the average analysts’ estimate of $3.43 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
This was Fortescue’s weakest performance since fiscal 2019.
Fortescue has pushed hard into green hydrogen in recent years. But last month it called time on two projects in Arizona and Australia due partly to higher-than-expected estimated production costs.
Its new CEO of green energy and growth, however, reaffirmed Fortescue’s commitment to green energy and green hydrogen in particular.
“We continue to pursue global opportunities in metals, critical minerals, energy and technology,” Fortescue Growth and Energy CEO Gus Pichot said in a statement.
“Green energy and green hydrogen remain key to our future, including our green iron strategy … As we move into FY26, we will continue to build on these strong foundations — researching and developing new green technologies to accelerate decarbonisation, both for Fortescue and for others.”
Fortescue plans to produce green iron using hydrogen at its Western Australian operations later this year.
The Perth-based miner declared a final dividend of A$0.60 per share, bringing its full-year dividend to A$1.10 apiece.
Its dividend payout ratio, at 65% of profits, matched fiscal year 2023, which was the lowest payout since 2018.
(Reporting by Himanshi Akhand and Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru and Melanie Burton in Melbourne; editing by Alan Barona)
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