MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Global mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd., Monday reported a 19-percent fall in first-half net profit to US$931 million from US$1.15 billion in the same period a year ago, blaming adverse currency movements and lower energy coal prices.
The drop in earnings for the six months to Dec. 31, 2002, largely reflected a 16 percent appreciation in the South African rand against the U.S. dollar in the half compared with a 47-percent depreciation in the same period a year ago.