Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting posts $4bn profit
Gina Rinehart to get a $710m dividend from Hancock’s huge profit, as iron ore prices help pay off Roy Hill mine’s debt.
Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting has posted a monster $4bn profit, with the billionaire’s Roy Hill mine paying off its entire $US7.2bn debts, as iron ore prices surged and exports of the commodity to China showed little signs of slowing during the coronavirus pandemic.
The profit for the year to June was one of the largest in recent Australian corporate history and came after revenue for Mrs Rinehart’s Hancock rose to $10.5bn and the business paid a huge $1.5bn in corporate tax for the year.
Hancock provided a $710m dividend to Mrs Rinehart and her family, compared with $483m last year, the group’s 2020 financial report, obtained by The Australian, reveals.
The report also shows Mrs Rinehart’s Roy Hill mine in the Pilbara has paid off its entire $US7.2bn in debt within five years of sending its first shipment of iron ore to its customers in Asia.
With iron ore still tracking above $US115 a tonne, the mine will be likely delivering margins of better than $US70 a tonne on its 60 million tonne-a-year operation, effectively cementing Mrs Rinehart’s spot as Australia’s richest person, given Hancock Prospecting owns 70 per cent of the giant mine.
Roy Hill paid Hancock and its other owners - including Marubeni Corporation, POSCO and China Steel Corporation - a $US475m dividend in late October, underlying the extraordinary profitability of the mine.
Hancock also owns a half share in the Rio Tinto-operated Hope Downs mines, and profit for the company rose an impressive 60 per cent compared to 2019 and the amount of tax it paid rose almost $450m. Revenue was up 25 per cent.
Hancock is one of the biggest taxpayers in corporate Australia and one of the biggest earners among private corporations, and in financial terms it has sailed through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There were no significant impacts to the group’s business due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Hancock’s 2020 financial report said.
In a separate statement, Hancock said its beef business, which owns the Kidman & Co pastoral stations, reported a 19 per cent lift in revenue to $74m in the financial year, recording a $27.8m profit for the year.
Mrs Rinehart’s wealth is derived from a majority stake in Hancock, which has huge mining, agriculture and investment assets.
The Australian estimated in September that she was now the wealthiest person on The List - Australia’s Richest 250 with a $22.25bn fortune.
