By Tess Stynes
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.'s (FCX) fourth-quarter
earnings rose 16% amid increased production as the mining company
bounced back from prior-year labor disruptions at its Indonesia
operations.
Shares were up 1.5% at $34.15 in recent premarket trading as
results beat expectations. Through Friday's close, the stock is
down 12% since Freeport-McMoRan's acquisition of two energy
companies was disclosed in early December.
Freeport-McMoRan last month agreed to buy McMoRan Exploration
Co. (MMR) and Plains Exploration & Production Co. (PXP)--two
oil companies with which it shares close ties--for roughly $9
billion in cash and stock. The deal marked a shift for the mining
giant towards U.S. energy exploration. The transactions are
expected to close in the second quarter.
The world's largest publicly traded copper company has been
under some pressure to shake things up. Profits at the company have
been strong but falling as global commodity prices slip in large
part because of slowing demand in China.
In the latest period, copper output grew 22%, while average
realized copper prices rose 5.3%. Gold production improved 39%,
while the realized price of gold was up 1.5%. Molybdenum output
climbed by one-third, though realized prices fell 16%.
Freeport-McMoRan reported a profit of $743 million, or 78 cents
a share, up from $640 million, or 67 cents a share, a year earlier.
Revenue increased 8.4% to $4.51 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently projected
earnings of 70 cents a share on revenue of $4.47 billion.
McMoRan Exploration last week posted a steeper-than-expected
decline in fourth-quarter revenue as the natural-gas exploration
company's average daily production decreased and it swung to a
loss.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@dowjones.com.
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