Jiangxi Copper First-Half Profit Rises 73% on Prices (Update2)

BEIJING, Aug. 27 -- Jiangxi Copper Co., China's biggest producer of the metal, said first-half profit surged 73 percent after output and prices of copper and gold increased.

Net income rose to 2.2 billion yuan ($323 million), or 0.67 yuan a share, from 1.27 billion yuan, or 0.40 yuan, a year earlier, the Guixi, Jiangxi province-based company said in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing today, citing international accounting standards. Belle Chan, a BOC International Holdings Ltd. analyst in Hong Kong, estimated earnings of 1.5 billion yuan.

Prices of gold, copper and other metals still have "upside potential" as the global economy recovers, Jiangxi Copper said. Prices of copper, used in wires and cables, rose more than 70 percent in the first half from a year earlier as stimulus spending by the Chinese government drove consumption.

Jiangxi Copper fell 1.8 percent to HK$16.10 rein Hong Kong trading today. The stock declined 1.2 percent to 28.49 yuan in Shanghai. Earnings were released after the markets closed.

Sales climbed 76 percent to 37.4 billion yuan as production of refined copper increased 22 percent to 452,000 metric tons and that of gold gained 4 percent to 10,414 kilograms (22,959 pounds), the company said.

Copper futures in Shanghai averaged 57,719.90 yuan a metric ton in the six-month period, up 73 percent from a year earlier. Gold spot prices averaged $1,154 an ounce, 26 percent higher than a year earlier.

Jiangxi Copper is spending about $500 million this year to increase copper output at four mines, and plans to boost this year's refined metal production by 13 percent to 900,000 tons, it said in March.