Anglo American 1H Net Profit -31%; Reinstates Dividend

30th Jul 2010 07:23

By Alex MacDonald Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--Global diversified miner Anglo American PLC (AAUK) Friday reported a 31% fall in first-half net profit and announced delays to its flagship Minas Rio iron ore project in Brazil, but said it has reinstated its dividend. The miner wasn't able to forecast an accurate final capital expenditure figure for the Minas Rio project, but said it expects to incur an additional $210 million due to changes in the scope and licensing conditions of the project. It also expects to incur schedule-related costs equivalent to a quarterly amount of about $180 million. "Given the stage of development that the project has reached, the grant of the approvals affects the critical path of the project towards the delivery of first ore," the company said. "Following a thorough review of the project, Anglo American estimates that from the date of securing the remaining initial approvals, it should take between 27 and 30 months to construct and commission the mine and plant, complete the project and deliver the first ore on ship," it added. The company declared an interim dividend of $0.25 a share. The FTSE-100 miner said net profit attributable to equity shareholders was $2.06 billion in the six months to June 30, compared with $2.97 billion during the same period a year earlier. First-half revenue rose 35% to $15.02 billion from $11.13 billion year-on-year. Anglo American's shares closed at 2,541 pence a share, down 6.3% since the beginning of the year. Company website: http://www.angloamerican.co.uk -By Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; 44 20 7842 9328; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 30, 2010 02:23 ET (06:23 GMT)