Antofagasta Shares Gain as Firm Sees Growth in Revenue and Profits for FY24

Copper mining giant Antofagasta's shares (LON: ANTO) gained early in London, before tapering into the early afternoon. Having been up more than 3% early as earnings were digested, the share price now stands 0.68% up on the day for a ~14.5% gain on the year-to-date.

Earnings came in strong, with a positive financial performance for the fiscal year 2024, with both revenue and pre-tax profits experiencing solid growth. The firm announced that revenues increased by 5%, totalling $6.6 billion, and pre-tax profits likewise rose 5% to reach $2.1 billion. Higher copper prices were credited with offsetting a decline in sales volumes.

Antofagasta's underlying earnings also saw an impressive 11% increase, amounting to $3.4 billion. However, the company's underlying earnings per share fell by 13%, now at $0.63. The EBITDA margin widened to an impressive 52%, highlighting the company’s efficient cost management.

Investors are poised to benefit from these earnings, as Antofagasta has declared a final dividend of $0.24 per share. This forms part of the total distributions for 2024, which were equivalent to 50% of the underlying earnings.

Despite the good performance of 2024, some caution is projected for FY25. The company guides its copper production to be between 660,000 and 700,000 tonnes, while capital expenditure is expected to reach approximately $3.9 billion.