LONDON - Anglo American said on Thursday its first-half loss more than halved, raised its dividend and reported further progress on its sweeping restructuring and proposed merger with Teck Resources.

The overhaul has so far delivered one major completed deal, the 2025 demerger of its South African platinum business. Exits from coal and nickel, as well as the planned sale of diamond unit De Beers, remain under way. Anglo's $53-billion all-stock merger with Teck is awaiting final approval from China.

The company reported a first-half loss of $858 million, compared with a loss of $1.9-billion a year earlier, largely reflecting a writedown on its steelmaking coal business.

Core earnings, or EBITDA, rose 35% to $4.0-billion, just ahead of analysts' consensus forecast of $3.9-billion, helped by strong copper earnings and cost savings.

Anglo declared an interim dividend of $0.23 per share, up from $0.07 a year earlier but below a consensus estimate of $0.27.

Shares were up 1.2% at 0857 GMT.

DE BEERS SALE
Anglo is seeking to sell De Beers after a prolonged slump in diamond markets turned the business into a drag on earnings.

The unit reported an underlying EBITDA loss of $113 million in the first half. Impairments reduced its carrying value to $2.3-billion at the end of 2025 from more than $4-billion.

CEO Duncan Wanblad, who has been reshaping Anglo since fending off a takeover approach from BHP in 2024, said the company had yet to select a preferred bidding consortium for De Beers but expected to give an update in the second half.

"We are not exclusive with any particular consortium at this particular point in time. And there is more than one in the process," he told reporters.

A Botswana government official previously said Anglo had picked one consortium, while Botswana, which owns 15% of De Beers, was weighing whether to exercise its right of first refusal and buy a stake itself or through a third party.

Sources have told Reuters that the bidders have included representatives of diamond-producing countries, former De Beers CEO Gareth Penny, now chairman of asset manager Ninety One, a Qatari investment fund and Israeli businessman Nir Livnat.

TECK TIE-UP
At a time when major mining companies are under pressure to expand their copper exposure but large-scale consolidation remains elusive, Anglo is the only major miner to have secured a deal.

The Teck merger, expected to close between September and March, would create the world's fifth-largest copper producer, positioning the combined company to benefit from demand linked to electrification and artificial intelligence.

"The copper business will be transformed after Anglo completes its merger with Teck," Jefferies analysts said, adding it would create one of the world's largest copper miners with a portfolio of tier-one assets in low-risk jurisdictions, supporting a re-rating of the shares.

Wanblad said the companies were preparing to capture merger synergies as soon as the deal closes and remained confident of securing approval from China.

"We are engaging pretty actively with (Chinese regulators)," he said, without giving further details.