Antofagasta Plc (ANTO), the copper producer controlled by Chile’s Luksic family, said first-half profit climbed 54 percent as production and metal prices advanced. Net income gained to $696.2 million from $451.2 million a year earlier, the London-based miner said today in a statement. Sales increased 73 percent to $3.05 billion. The dividend doubled to 8 cents from a year ago. The shares rose the most since Aug. 12 after Antofagasta raised first-half copper output 14 percent to 288,500 metric tons. The company, which expanded its largest mine at Los Pelambres and began shipping from its Esperanza site in January, is seeking to boost output to as much as 640,000 tons this year from 521,100 tons. The average price of copper advanced 31 percent from a year earlier, it said. “The company is bullish on its outlook for copper despite recent weakness due to recession worries,” Collins Stewart Plc said today in an e-mailed note. The dividend was “well ahead of expectations,” it said. The stock advanced 3.1 percent to 1,250 pence at 9:16 a.m. London time after earlier rising as much as 4.2 percent. It’s declined 22 percent this year. “Recent events have shown the volatility of commodity prices, and the industry is also continuing to see relatively strong cost pressures,” Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Awad said in the statement. “While markets are likely to remain volatile, especially in the near-term, we remain confident that copper fundamentals will remain supportive of a strong pricing environment.” To contact the reporters on this story: Amanda Jordan in London at ajordan11@bloomberg.net; Firat Kayakiran in London at fkayakiran@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amanda Jordan at ajordan11@bloomberg.net.

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