(Corrects paragraph 4 to say first-half profit was above, not below the earnings from the same period a year earlier)
Feb 25 (Reuters) – Australia’s Fortescue reported a 23% rise in first-half profit on Wednesday, powered by record iron ore shipments and higher realised prices for the commodity.
Iron ore shipments in the first half rose more than 3% to a record 100.2 million metric tons, the world’s fourth-largest iron ore miner said.
Fortescue sold its iron ore for about $90.87 per dry metric ton (dmt), up from $85.24 per dmt a year ago.
The company reported an underlying net profit after tax attributable of $1.91 billion for the six months ended December 31, missing the Visible Alpha estimate of $1.98 billion, but above the $1.55 billion profit it posted a year earlier.
Fortescue has deepened ties with China at a time when iron ore majors are trying to negotiate with state-backed buyer China Minerals Resources Group that has restricted shipments from bigger rival BHP.
The company declared a final dividend of 62 Australian cents per share, higher than the 50 Australian cents apiece announced last year.
(Reporting by Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
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