Sydney  - Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd said Wednesday that crumbling commodity prices had halved its first-half profits.

BHP's net profit for the six months to December was down 57 per cent to 2.6 billion US dollars, from 6 billion US dollars in the corresponding period in the previous financial year.

The poor result reflected write-downs for mothballing its Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Western Australia and other projects.

BHP chief executive Marius Kloppers said the outlook as "weak, uncertain and volatile."

Last month, the world's biggest miner said it would slash 6,300 jobs by June, with one third of them going in Australia. (dpa)