Antofagasta pays $1 special as profits top $1bn

8th Mar 2011 07:12

Copper miner Antofagasta is to pay a huge special dividend after profits last year crashed through the $1bn mark as output rose and prices soared.The Chile-based group will pay out 116c per share in total for 2010 including a special payment of 100c. In 2009, it paid 23.4c with a 14c special. Net profits last year rose by 58% to $1.05bn, from $668m, on revenues up by 55% at $4.58bn from $2.96bn. "Market fundamentals remain positive and while the high level of volatility that has characterised commodity prices in recent years is expected to continue, consensus estimates are for copper prices to remain favourable in 2011. Supply constraints and underlying demand could keep the copper market in deficit in the medium term," chief executive Marcelo Awad added. Production last year rose by 18% to 521,000 tonnes of copper with prices rising by 46% to $342 per pound. Net cash costs rose 8% to $104 per pound."2010 was a landmark year for the Group, with the commencement of the commissioning of the Esperanza mine and completion of the Los Pelambres plant expansion," Awad added."As previously announced, the initial forecast is for group copper production to increase to approximately 715,000 tonnes in 2011, a 60% increase on the pre-expansion 2009 levels, although final production levels will depend on a number of factors including the precise timing of the completion of the ramp-up at Esperanza," he said.