JPM-JPM Mining Daily Iron ore -百分之0.5, Met coal -百分之1.7-20250716

Simon Trott appointed CEO; implies strategic continuity, stay OW

Our Take: This morning, Rio Tinto announced that Simon Trott, currently the head of RIO’sIron Ore division, will succeed Jakob Staudholm as CEO of the group. He will assume therole from 25 August and will be based in London. As Mr Trott was an internal candidate, weexpect this implies both strategic and cultural continuity for the group. However, theappointment of a new CEO underscores the question of how the new management willachieve greater value unlock for the group. As we flagged in our 23 May note (link), multipleself-help options exist through RIO’s portfolio, and RIO now has a foundation of operationalstrength and tier-one assets from which management can unlock value. This may besomewhat deferred as Mr Trott assumes his new role and assembles a new management team,but the succession reinforces our conviction that future strategic catalysts will define RIO asfundamentally undervalued today. With RIO trading on spot 4.9x/4.4x EV/EBITDA2025/26E, 6%/7% FCF yield, we remain OW.