Antofagasta H1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Strong first-half financial performance: Revenue rose 18% to $4.5 billion and EBITDA increased 27% to $2.8 billion, driven by higher copper and by-product prices, productivity gains and cost discipline despite lower copper production.
• Guidance maintained after weather disruption: Severe weather temporarily interrupted Los Pelambres operations, prompting revised production guidance, but net cash cost and capital expenditure guidance remained unchanged as stronger by-product prices offset higher input costs.
• Growth projects remain on track: The Centinela Second Concentrator and Los Pelambres expansion projects are progressing toward completion in 2027 and are expected to lift group production by roughly 30%, while net debt remained manageable at 0.68 times EBITDA.

Antofagasta LON: ANTO reported higher first-half earnings as stronger realized prices for copper and by-products, productivity gains and cost discipline offset lower copper production. The company said its major growth projects remain on track for completion in 2027 and are expected to increase production by about 30%.

Chief Executive Officer Iván Arriagada said EBITDA rose 27% and profit before tax increased 72% from the prior-year period. He attributed the performance to higher realized prices, productivity improvements and continued cost control.

“The first half of 2026 was characterized by strong financial performance, supported by favorable market conditions, disciplined cost control, and strong execution on projects,” Arriagada said.

Revenue, EBITDA and costs

Chief Financial Officer Mauricio Ortiz said first-half revenue increased 18% to $4.5 billion, reflecting higher realized prices for copper, gold and molybdenum. EBITDA rose 27% to $2.8 billion, while the EBITDA margin expanded by 5 percentage points to 63.4%.

Copper accounted for 77% of group revenue, according to Ortiz. Molybdenum, gold and silver represented a further 22% of revenue. The company said its exposure to by-product pricing supported results during the period.

Copper production was lower than in the first half of the prior year, primarily because of lower grades at Centinela and Los Pelambres. Ortiz also said that the timing of maintenance requirements on the Los Pelambres concentrate pipeline led to the buildup of concentrate inventories.

Nearly 7,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate processed during the first half are expected to be recognized as production and sales in the second half, he said.

Net cash costs declined 8%, supported by a $0.10-per-pound benefit from the company’s competitiveness program and higher by-product credits. Those factors more than offset the effects of lower output and inflation in consumables and other inputs, Ortiz said.

The competitiveness program generated $67 million in savings and productivity improvements during the first half, keeping the company on track to meet its full-year target of $110 million. Ortiz said the program has been operating for more than a decade and remains embedded in Antofagasta’s operating model.

• First-half revenue: $4.5 billion, up 18%.
• First-half EBITDA: $2.8 billion, up 27%.
• EBITDA margin: 63.4%, up 5 percentage points.
• First-half competitiveness savings and productivity improvements: $67 million.

Weather disruption and guidance

Antofagasta updated its production guidance after severe weather affected Los Pelambres in late July. Arriagada said the company implemented a precautionary shutdown and subsequently resumed operations safely and orderly, though the interruption and ramp-up—particularly at the mine—were incorporated into the revised guidance range.

The company said group net cash cost guidance was unchanged despite higher prices for key consumables, including diesel and sulfuric acid. Stronger pricing for gold, silver and molybdenum by-products was expected to offset those external cost pressures. Capital expenditure guidance also remained unchanged.

Arriagada said safety remained the company’s first priority, reporting another fatality-free period and a lost-time injury frequency rate below one. He said Antofagasta’s operations and projects have now gone five years without a fatal accident.

Balance sheet and shareholder returns

Ortiz said Antofagasta continued to invest in its growth portfolio while maintaining a resilient balance sheet. Net debt increased during the period, mainly due to growth spending and new lease liabilities associated with Centinela water infrastructure following completion of the first water-project milestone.

Still, net debt to EBITDA stood at 0.68 times. The company declared an interim dividend in line with its long-standing capital allocation policy, though no dividend amount was disclosed during the presentation.

Ortiz said the company’s financial framework prioritizes a strong balance sheet, sustaining capital, mine development and investment in growth opportunities alongside shareholder returns.

Projects advance toward 2027 completion

Antofagasta said its immediate project focus is completing the Centinela Second Concentrator and growth-enabling work at Los Pelambres, including an expansion of desalinated-water supply and a new concentrate pipeline.

Construction and pre-commissioning at Centinela continued during the first half, with milestones reached in the milling circuit, fine ore stockpile and conveyor systems. Commissioning is expected to be completed in 2027, followed by ramp-up.

The company said Centinela is currently one of Chile’s largest gold producers and is expected to become the country’s second-largest gold-producing operation once the expansion is fully ramped up.

At Los Pelambres, construction progressed on the desalination plant expansion and concentrate pipeline, including infrastructure installation and electrical systems. The company also submitted the second addendum for the Development Options Project permit, which is intended to support a potential mine-life extension through 2051.

Antofagasta additionally approved investment in a long-term water-supply project at Zaldívar. The project is designed to use reprocessed water from the city of Antofagasta and could support a potential extension of the mine’s life through 2051.

Arriagada said the company also continued evaluating longer-term opportunities at Cachorro and Encierro, as well as industrial-scale leach-pad designs for its Cuprochlor-T technology. However, he said the company’s primary focus remains brownfield expansions in its existing mining districts.

About Antofagasta (LON:ANTO)

Antofagasta plc is a copper mining group with significant by-product production and interests in transportation. The Group creates value for its stakeholders through the discovery, development and operation of copper mines. The Group is committed to generating value in a safe and sustainable way throughout the commodity cycle.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source