South32 reports surge in first-half profit on strong commodity prices

Australian diversified miner South32 reported an 838% surge in first-half profits on Thursday, driven by higher sales of aluminum and copper and strong commodity prices.

An uptick in aluminum prices, spurred by a constrained alumina market and supply deficit, led to the company’s aluminum division posting an increase in underlying operating earnings of $160 million for the first half.

Earnings for the copper division also increased by $98 million, boosted by higher prices and lower labour costs.

The Perth-based miner, which separated from BHP Group in 2015, declared a lower interim dividend of 3.4 cents per share, compared to 0.4 cent in the previous year.

South32, the world’s biggest producer of manganese, said its underlying earnings for the half-year ended December 31 came in at $375 million, ahead of $40 million a year ago. That beat a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of $370.1 million.

(By Aaditya Govind Rao and Sherin Sunny; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)