ANTO Antofagasta Plc

By Carlo Martuscelli

Antofagasta PLC (ANTO.LN) said Tuesday that its first-half Ebitda fell 16% as production decreased and costs increased, but it backed its full-year outlook.

The miner said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the six months ended June 30 were $904.2 million, down from $1.08 billion the previous year. The company attributed the decrease to higher unit-production costs.

Analysts at Jefferies expected the company to report Ebitda of $1.06 billion for the first half.

First-half copper production fell 8.5% to 317,000 metric tons. It attributed the decrease to lower grades of ore mined, as well as a pipeline blockage.

Interim net profit was $194.3 million, down from $290.5 million a year earlier, on revenue that rose 3.6% to $2.12 billion, as higher copper prices helped offset lower sales volumes.

The company declared a dividend of 6.8 cents per share for the period.

Antofagasta backed its full-year outlook, and said it believes a stronger second half will offset a weaker first half. Copper production guidance for the full year is at between 705,000 tons and 740,000 tons at $1.35 a pound.

Write to Carlo Martuscelli at carlo.martuscelli@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 14, 2018 02:38 ET (06:38 GMT)

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