Company Interview / Market Update | Rio Tinto, Beach Energy, Origin Energy, AGL Energy, Betr

Rio Tinto shares fell in London and New York trade after the miner logged its smallest first-half profit in five years thanks to lower iron ore prices. First half profit fell 16% to US$4.81 billion. Rio's interim dividend dropped to US$1.48 - its lowest in seven years.

Beach Energy produced 4.6 5 million barrels of oil equivalent in the fourth quarter - with sales revenue coming in at $455 million -- down 17% on the third quarter. FY production rose 9% to just under 20 million barrels - with sales revenue up 13% to $2 billion. Beach Energy says flood levels have peaked in the Cooper Basin - however it expects continued impact on production during the first half of FY26.

Meanwhile Origin Energy posted a 6% sequential decline in fourth quarter revenue from its stake in the Australia Pacific LNG project... , as lower underlying commodity prices weighed on earnings. June quarter revenue fell 3% to $2.2 million. FY25 full-year production was down 25 while revenue was stable.

And AGL Energy has given the greenlight to its $800 million grid-scale battery project in the NSW Hunter region. AGL says construction work will begin in late 2025... with operations expected to commence in late 2027.

Betr Entertainment has made a renewed offer to acquire PointsBet, Betr has offered the fellow bookmaker $1.35 per share through a scrip deal of approximately 4.2 Betr shares for each PointsBet share. Betr says the merger would create a more scaled competitor with 10% market share, making it the fourth-largest player and potentially paving the way for an inclusion in the S&P/ASX300. The bid follows a competing $1.20-per-share offer from Japan’s MIXI, which now holds a 25% stake in PointsBet.