MELBOURNE -(Dow Jones)- Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) Chief Financial Officer Guy Elliott said Monday the company has paid down a further US$1.5 billion as part of a drive to achieve an A credit rating.
Rio Tinto had reduced its net debt to US$22.3 billion by the end of September and Elliott said the company had on Friday paid down a further US$1.5 billion of what it calls "Facility D".
"We are confident that the cash generation of the business and the recent disposal proceeds are sufficient to allow us to make this repayment at the same time as we increase our spend on value-adding growth projects," he told an investor briefing in Sydney.
Elliott also said Rio Tinto would continue to look for bolt-on acquisitions and is open to value-adding joint ventures with Chinese partners.
-By Alex Wilson, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9292-2094; alex.wilson@dowjones.com