ClickAJob News

BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining firm, has reported "record" annual profits on the back of rising demand from China and higher commodity prices.

In a statement today the company reported a 35 per cent rise in attributable profit, which jumped to $13.7 billion (£6.9 billion). That compared to $10.15 billion (£5.29 billion) a year earlier.

The latest profits announced by BHP represent the fourth set of record-breaking results in a row for the mining giant.

BHP's rock-solid performance was driven by rising commodity prices, said by the company to be at their highest level since the 1970s, and demand for raw materials from China.

However the mining group did reveal that strong global demand for resources had resulted in increased costs for the firm, which jumped 3.6 per cent to $859 million (£433 million).Higher labour and contractor charges, coupled with the increasing cost of fuel and other operating costs were blamed for the rise.

Earlier this month rival company Rio Tinto reported that increased costs had impacted upon its half-year results by undermining strong demand and rising prices.

But despite also being hit by increased costs, BHP remains upbeat about its future prospects, even in the wake of the current volatility that is rocking the world's financial markets.

"Recent discussions with our customers have indicated that they do not expect the volatility in the US and European credit markets to have a material impact on raw material demand," said the company.

"In particular, our customers in China and India believe domestic supply and demand criteria are much more important factors in their markets," BHP added.

Analysts had said that a strong growth in BHP's earnings could spark speculation about the prospect of possible mergers and acquisitions involving the mining group.