TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Chile-focused copper miner Antofagasta’s LSE-listed stock closed up nearly 10% on Tuesday despite the miner booking a 49% drop in profit for the first half of the year (H1).

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were $561.6-million, a 48.6% decline, reflecting a dramatic drop in revenues, which was partly offset by a 18.9% decrease in operating costs.

Earnings per share (EPS) fell 72% to $0.08, prompting the company to focus on cost savings.

“We are on track to make a $160-million saving in 2015. Good-quality assets and tight capital discipline means we can weather the current downturn and maintain our competitive position in this challenging environment and when the copper cycle begins to recover, we will enjoy healthy margin growth,” CEO Diego Hernández said.

H1 group revenues were $1.8-billion, down 31.4% compared with the same period last year, reflecting a 17.8% fall in realised copper prices, lower by-product revenues and a 15.5% decrease in sales volumes. Copper sales for the half year were 290 100 t, impacted on by bad weather that had delayed shipments towards the end of the quarter. Shipments normalised in July, the company noted.

Antofagasta cut its interim dividend to $0.03 a share from $0.12 a share a year earlier, which represented a 35% pay-out of the half-year EPS for continuing operations.

H1 group copper output fell 12.9% to 303 400 t, mainly owing to lower grades, as expected, and lower throughput and recoveries at Los Pelambres.

Gold output was 112 500 oz in the interim period, 11 300 oz less than 2014 H1, owing to lower output at Los Pelambres. Molybdenum output at the mine was 4 700 t in H1 2015, compared with 3 300 t in H1 2014, mainly owing to a higher molybdenum-grade zone being mined during the second quarter.

Group net cash costs were $1.53/lb, up 4.8% on 2014, mainly reflecting lower gold output and lower realised molybdenum prices at Los Pelambres.

Last month, the company, controlled by the Chilean Luksic family, acquired a 50% interest in the Zaldivar copper mine, in northern Chile, from Barrick Gold for $1-billion.

Antofagasta’s LSE-listed stock gained £0.50 a share on Tuesday to close at £5.83 apiece.