BHP 1st Half Net Profit, Dividend Rise; Signs $4.3 Billion Silver Streaming Deal

By Rhiannon Hoyle

BHP Group on Tuesday reported a 28% rise in first-half net profit and raised its midyear dividend by nearly half, as the world's biggest miner by market value benefited from a record-breaking rally in copper prices.

The miner also said it has signed a $4.3 billion streaming deal for silver from the Antamina mine in Peru with Wheaton Precious Metals and aims to generate a total of up to $10 billion from similar deals, including a $2 billion power infrastructure agreement inked in December.

Melbourne, Australia-based BHP said it made a net profit of $5.64 billion for the six months through December, up from $4.42 billion in the year-earlier period.

Underlying profit, a closely watched measure of profitability that strips out some one-time charges, rose by 22% to $6.20 billion. BHP's underlying profit beat a consensus estimate of $6.03 billion compiled by Visible Alpha.

Directors of the company declared an interim dividend of 73 U.S. cents a share, up from 50 cents a share a year ago.

That equates to a payout of 60% of underlying profit, said BHP, which pledges to pay shareholders at least 50% of underlying attributable profit each reporting period. A year ago, it paid the equivalent of 50%.

The dividend reflects "strong operating performance, disciplined capital allocation and confidence in our outlook," said Chief Executive Mike Henry.

Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 16, 2026 17:17 ET (22:17 GMT)