Rio Tinto Group (RIO) Q4 2024 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Hello and thank you to everyone tuning in. Before we begin, I acknowledge and pay my respect to all traditional owners and First Nations people that host our operations around the world. I am today in the United States, so we are doing results a little differently this year. But I hope the message comes through loud and clear. Our culture is changing and is improving our performance. We are again leader in project development and have excellent growth momentum. The diversification towards copper, aluminium and lithium is happening at pace. And we are delivering consistent shareholder value as we grow, build and diversify our portfolio. Now, let's look at the evidence. Our production has grown for the third year in a row. Copper-equivalent production increased 1% in 2024 and our mid-range guidance indicates another 4% growth this year, led by the ramp-up of oil-told oil. The 4% excludes Arcadium-Lethium, so you can see we are already on our way organically. The acquisition only brightens the outlook. As we set out at our investor day in December, this puts us on course for a decade of 3% compound annual production growth. And this is not growth for the sake of growth. This is about investments that create more value from existing assets and diversifying our portfolio towards future areas of growth. We have really good momentum and the way we have built it is simple. a relentless focus on our four objectives. First, best operator. The safe production system is driving clear improvements that we will build on and accelerate. It was very encouraging for me to speak to our iron ore colleagues in the Pilbara a couple of weeks ago and understand how the evolving culture and systems are empowering them to make continuous improvement. We have more work to do on this objective...