BHP profit falls amid lower iron ore prices

BHP has reported a 26% decline in underlying attributable profit to $10.16bn for the financial year 2025 (FY25), which ended on 30 June.

This marked the miner’s lowest full-year profit since 2020, according to media reports.

The profit was hit by a 19% decrease in the average realised price for its iron ore.

Revenue fell 8% year-on-year to $51.3bn, while underlying earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation dropped 10%.

Copper production surpassed 2 million tonnes for the first time, accounting for almost half of the group’s earnings, driven by output growth at its Escondida mine in Chile and operations in South Australia.

Net operating cash flow declined due to lower iron ore and coal prices, despite strong copper output and favourable currency movements.

Free cash flow was $5.3bn after $9.8bn in capital and exploration spending, including $4.5bn on copper.

BHP maintained its FY26 and FY27 capital expenditure guidance at $11bn, stating: "We have sought to optimise our capital profile over FY28 to FY30, and reduced forecast capital spend by $1bn per annum, to $10bn each year on average over this period."

The final dividend was cut to $0.60 per share from $0.74 in the previous year.

BHP CEO Mike Henry stated: “The global economic outlook is mixed. Growth is expected to ease to 3% or slightly below in the near-term amid shifting trade policies, yet demand for commodities remains strong, particularly in China and India.

“We remain confident in the long-term fundamentals of steelmaking materials, copper and fertilisers, which are critical to global growth, urbanisation and the energy transition."

Meanwhile, BHP Group and Vale were recently in the headlines for proposing a $1.4bn settlement to a class action lawsuit in the UK, related to the 2015 Mariana dam collapse in Brazil.

The London lawsuit against BHP has seen claimants' lawyers estimate potential damages of up to £36bn ($48.2bn).

"BHP profit falls amid lower iron ore prices" was originally created and published by Mining Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.

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