SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s Vale, one of the world’s largest miners, reported that its first quarter net profit fell 59% from a year earlier to reach $1.8 billion, far below analyst expectations and dragged down by weaker sales and lower iron ore prices.
The company posted its January-through-March results in a filing to Brazil’s main stock exchange on Wednesday.
Analysts polled by Refinitiv had forecast that Vale’s first quarter net profit would total $2.422 billion.
(Reporting by Peter Frontini; Editing by David Alire Garcia)