Anglo American 2018 Net Profit Rose 12%

By Oliver Griffin

Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) on Thursday reported a 12% rise in net profit for 2018 and said it had benefited from strong commodities prices, particularly in its platinum, coal and nickel businesses.

The diversified mining company said it made a profit of $3.56 billion in the year-ended Dec. 31 compared with $3.17 billion in 2017. A consensus estimate from 18 analysts compiled by FactSet forecast profit at $2.8 billion.

Revenue for the year rose 5% to $27.61 billion, Anglo American said. Net debt at Dec. 31 was $2.85 billion compared with $4.5 billion on Dec. 31, 2017.

Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization--Anglo American's preferred metric, which strips out certain one-off items--rose to $9.16 billion from $8.82 billion in 2017. A consensus estimate from 15 analysts compiled by Vuma forecast underlying Ebitda of $9.05 billion.

Underlying Ebitda from Anglo American's majority-owned diamond business De Beers fell 13% to $1.25 billion. Anglo American said De Beers took on incremental expenditure on a number of new initiatives, including the launch of Lightbox Jewelry, a business that produces lab-grown diamond for jewelry purposes.

The company said the 2019 outlook for the consumer diamond jewelry demand faces a number of challenges, including the risk of a potential intensification of U.S.-China trade tensions, the Chinese government's ability to rebalance economic growth towards consumption, and further exchange-rate volatility.

In April last year, the company forecast that it would take a $300 million-$400 million hit to underlying Ebitda due to inspections and repairs halting operations at its Minas-Rio iron ore operation.

Anglo American said the total hit on underlying Ebitda due to the suspension of operations at Minas-Rio was $600 million.

The company declared a final dividend of 51 cents, taking the total dividend for the year to $1 a share. Last year, it declared a total dividend of $1.02 a share.

Write to Oliver Griffin at [e-mail]; @OliGGriffin

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 21, 2019 02:40 ET (07:40 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.