Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) shares are down 3.5% to $78.77 at the time of writing off the back of its half-year results presentation and the announcement of a share buy-back programme.
According to today's ASX release, Rio will commence an additional US$1 billion share buy-back of Rio plc's ordinary shares – in addition to on-market buy-backs in place from September last year and February 2018.
If Rio investors seem ambivalent about the buyback, Rio's interim dividend of $2.2 billion should sweeten the deal, with Rio's half-year results showing robust financial performance, EBITDA of $9.2 billion, and a dividend of roughly $1.70 per share.
Sentiment may also have been knocked by a 38% decrease in free cash flow and a 34% increase in expenditure with issues resolving a tax dispute with the Mongolian government also playing on investors' minds.
Peers like BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) are also in the red today, down 1.8% to $34.42 at the time of writing, as oil producers Woodside Petroleum (ASX: WPL) and Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) shares react to oil prices tumbling overnight.
