Aug 25 (Reuters) - BHP Billiton (LONDON:BLT) Ltd BHP.AX :
* BHP Billiton results for the year ended 30 June 2015 BHP.AX
* FY total revenue down 22.2% to $52.27 billion
* Capital and exploration expenditure expected to decline to US$8.5 billion in the 2016 financial year and US$7.0 billion in the 2017 financial year
* Says commitment to the progressive dividend is unchanged. full-year dividend increased by 2% to 124 US cents per share.
* In the short term we expect ongoing economic reforms in China to contribute to periods of market volatility"
* Says in China, a slowdown in the property sector and fixed asset investment led to lower economic growth following policy tightening in the 2014 cy
* Says FY profit after taxation attributable to the members of the BHP Billiton Group down 86.2% to $1.91 billion
* Says we remain confident in the long-term outlook for commodities demand
* At Escondida, three concentrator strategy with the commissioning of the desalination plant, is expected to offset grade decline
* Have lowered forecast of peak Chinese steel demand to between 935 million tonnes and 985 million tonnes in the mid 2020's
* Says robust longer-term outlook for China remains intact as the economy transitions
* Says finished the period with net debt of US$24.4 billion
* Federal reserve is expected to begin increasing interest rates in the first half of the 2016 financial year.
* Expect further cost reductions in the 2016 financial year across all businesses
* In iron ore, we estimate that approximately 100 mt of incremental lower cost seaborne supply will enter the market in the 2015 calendar year"
* Medium and longer-term development options are expected to support production growth rates over the cycle and generate strong returns on investment"
* Says "long-term outlook remains robust as the supply of premium hard coking coals becomes scarce"
* In the near term, new supply under development is expected to keep the market well supplied for copper
* Says outside China, steel production growth is improving steadily driven by India, the Middle East and south-east Asia
* In the short to medium term, we expect moderate growth of the global economy"
* Petroleum capital expenditure of approximately US$3.1 billion is planned in the 2016 financial year
* Final dividend for current period US 62 cents fully franked
* Says adjusted effective tax rate is expected to be in the range of 33 per cent to 37 per cent for the 2016 financial year
* Delivered productivity gains of US$4.1 billion , two years ahead of target"
* Expect oil prices to remain range bound in short term due to available supply capacity from United States and opec"
* Source text for Eikon ID:nASX93PCFj
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