ANTO Antofagasta Plc

By David Hodari

Global copper mining behemoth Antofagasta released its fourth-quarter and full-year results for 2017 on Tuesday. The mining company announced it was raising its dividend to 40.6 cents from 15.3 cents and reported a pre-tax profit of $1.83 billion. Here are some remarks from the company's earnings report.

On revenue:

"Revenue for the group in 2017 was $4,749.4 million, 31.1% higher than in 2016...mainly [reflecting] an increase in the realized copper price and copper sales volumes, as well as higher molybdenum revenue offset by lower gold revenue. Ebitda reflected this increase in revenue, partly offset by the higher unit cash costs, and increased exploration and evaluation expenditure and mine closure provision costs. Ebitda increased by 59.1% to $2,586.6 million..."

On copper prices:

"The LME copper price at the beginning of 2017 was $2.51/lb and rose to end the year at $3.27/lb, averaging $2.80/lb over the whole year, an increase of 27% compared with 2016. Copper supply came under pressure during the first half of the year as strikes and other issues at some of the world's largest mines led to significant disruptions. However, in the second half of the year demand was supported by unexpected strength in key markets, particularly in China. This resulted in the average realized price of copper being 29.0% higher in 2017 at $3.00/lb."

On the copper market outlook:

"The copper market is expected to tighten in the second half of the year and to be in balance or in a slight deficit for the full year. From 2019 the likelihood of the market being in deficit is expected to increase as mine supply continues to be affected by the long-term trend of grade decline and lack of new investment... the few projects that have been approved or are awaiting the final stages of permitting are only expected to come on-stream in the next decade..."

On prospective labor negotiations:

"There are an unusually large number of labour negotiations taking place in Chile and Peru during 2018. With the backdrop of stronger copper prices, employee expectations may be raised which could result in some supply disruptions in the region."

On production at Los Pelambres:

"Copper production was 343,800 tonnes in 2017, which was 3.3% lower than in 2016. This decrease was primarily due to lower grades, which dropped from 0.73% to 0.68%."

On outlook at Centinela:

"Production for 2018 is forecast at 230-245,000 tonnes of payable copper, 130-140,000 ounces of gold and 1,500 tonnes of molybdenum following the commissioning of the molybdenum plant early in 2018. While the grade at Centinela Concentrates will be lower than in 2017, Encuentro Oxides will reach full capacity during the year contributing approximately 50,000 tonnes of payable copper."

On outlook at Zaldivar:

"Attributable copper production in 2018 is forecast to be approximately 55-60,000 tonnes at a cash cost of $1.70/lb. Attributable capital expenditure in 2018 is expected to be approximately $60 million, of which $10 million will be spent on mine development."

Write to David Hodari at david.hodari@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 13, 2018 08:29 ET (12:29 GMT)

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