BHP Billiton’s record
$8.6 billion full-year profit result, announced late yesterday, is the hot
topic on the business pages today, with the Financial Review reporting on its
front page that the mining giant’s huge result – easily the largest by an
Australian company – has left its rivals “gasping.” BHP’s
85.5% increase in profits for the financial year will surely be CEO Chip
Goodyear’s “best ever” effort, says Chanticleer’s John Durie (not online) –
even if he delivers bigger profits in the future.

BHP is on a “massive
earnings roll” thanks to the boom in commodity prices that no one anticipated
three years ago, says Elizabeth Knight in the SMH. Production at its mines and oil and gas fields were pushed to new
highs to meet demands, says Malcolm Maiden in the Smage. While price increases for the commodities it sold worldwide
bolstered its gross earnings by $US5.7 billion ($7.5 billion) – more than the
whole group earned when it posted a record last year.

But it’s not all about the oil, says Terry McCrann in the Herald Sun. In fact, it pales in comparison with the $US1 billion
increase from base metals – mainly copper – and the $US2 billion increase
from coking and energy coal and iron ore. In the end, though, the combination
of positioning and timing created the “deluge of cash,” says Stephen Bartholomeusz in the Smage. And the challenge now for Goodyear is to deploy that cash efficiently in projects whose economics will stand up if
the traditional resources cycle resumes.

Meanwhile, in The Australian, Bryan Frith
wonders whether Chris Corrigan’s trenchant criticism of Grant Samuel’s
role in the Patrick Corp bid for Virgin Blue earlier this year may
come back to haunt him as he prepares to defend Patrick against the
$4.9
billion bid from Toll Holdings. While internationally, The Guardian reports that Google will today launch its
long-awaited instant messaging and internet telephony service Google
Talk, throwing down the gauntlet to rivals such as AOL, Yahoo! and
Microsoft’s MSN.

On Wall Street, US stocks ended near seven-week lows overnight
after oil prices tapped another record high ($67.40 a barrel) and the
New York Federal Reserve
called a meeting to discuss trading practices in the derivatives
market, prompting concern about a potential credit-risk problem. The
Dow fell 84.71 points to 10,434, its lowest closing level since July 7
– MarketWatch has a full report here.