21st Feb 2019 09:09
LONDON (Alliance News) - Kaz Minerals PLC on Thursday reported a rise in its 2018 profit and revenue as copper production jumped during the year.
For 2018, the Kazakhstan-focused copper miner posted pretax profit up 11% to USD642.0 million from USD580.0 million.
Revenue rose 12% to USD2.16 billion from USD1.94 billion a year ago, driven by increased copper production and higher copper prices.
In 2018, Kaz sold 296,000 tonnes of copper versus 256,000 tonnes in 2017. Copper production rose 14% on the previous year, 295,000 tonnes, at the upper end of the firm's prior guidance of between 270,000 and 300,000 tonnes.
Gold production rose 3% on 2017, also above company guidance.
Looking ahead, Kaz said it expects Copper production in 2019 to be in the region of 300,000 tonnes, as continued growth at Bozshakol and Aktogay in Kazakhstan offsets lower forecast output from the country's East Region.
"In the second half of 2018, short-term macroeconomic concerns and a lower than average level of supply disruption weighed on the copper price. However, the medium-term fundamentals for the copper market remain strong and support the group's strategy of investing in large-scale copper projects that will deliver value-accretive growth," Kaz said.
Kaz proposed a 6.0 US cents dividend per share, which alongside the 6.0 cents interim dividend, makes up for a total payout of 12.0 cents.
Kaz shares were trading down 0.6% at 674.40 pence each.
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