Southern Copper profit jumps as copper prices lift revenue

Net income rose 63% to $1.80 billion as the miner raised its quarterly dividend to $1.30 a share

Southern Copper reported third-quarter earnings of $2.15 a share on a GAAP basis, beating expectations by $0.13. Revenue came to $4.70 billion, above the $4.44 billion analysts had forecast.

The results mark a sharp rise from a year earlier, when the company earned $1.32 a share on revenue of $3.38 billion, according to MarketBeat. They also top the prior quarter, when Southern Copper posted $1.99 a share on revenue of $4.29 billion, MarketBeat said.

Net income climbed to $1.80 billion, up 63% from a year earlier and above the $1.68 billion analysts had expected, according to a Smartkarma earnings alert. Adjusted EBITDA rose 54% to $3.04 billion and operating income grew 59% to $2.82 billion, Smartkarma said. Copper production slipped 1.10% from the second quarter to 232,396 tonnes, with Ad Hoc News reporting that lower ore grades cut output in Peru while Mexican operations were mixed.

Southern Copper declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.30 a share, up from its previous level and implying a 2.6% yield, MarketBeat said. It also declared a stock dividend of 0.0106 shares per common share, compared with 0.0100, 0.0085 and 0.0101 shares paid in the four quarters before it, according to the company's 10-Q filing with the SEC. Both dividends are payable November 19 to shareholders of record as of November 3.

The quarter's growth tracks the broader rise in copper prices that has lifted mining stocks this year. Ad Hoc News noted that the gain came mainly from higher metal prices and sales rather than from more output, since production fell from the prior quarter.