BHP Billiton has become the latest mining company to suffer at the hands of the global commodity rout, seeing shares fall over 3 percent after disclosing a huge net loss for the last half year.

The mining giant posted a loss of $5.67 billion, compared to a profit of $5.35 billion the year before. The company also cut its dividend by 75 percent, the first reduction since 1988, and saw revenue tumble by 37 percent.

BHP’s Chairman Jac Nasser said in a statement that he believed the company would be going through a period of prolonged volatility, and said the decision to cut its dividend had not been made lightly, but was “a determined response to changing markets”.

Seeing the world’s biggest mining company being so severely affected by recent events does not bode well for the industry as a whole. BHP’s shares have fallen over 47 percent so far this year on Australian markets, but rose 2.7 percent after an initial fall this morning. In London (LON:BLT), shares are currently trading down 3.08 percent at 770.50 (1222GMT).

23/02/2016