Jiangxi Copper Co., one of China's top producers, said on Wednesday 2018 net profit rose 52.4 percent year on year as a hedging gain boosted its bottom line in a poor year for the metal used in manufacturing and construction.
The Nanchang-based company, which in January flagged an expected increase in annual profit of around 50 percent, posted net income of 2.45 billion yuan for last year, up from 1.61 billion yuan in 2017.
That marks Jiangxi Copper's best annual earnings result since 2014, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.
Adjusted for non-recurring gains, however, 2018 profit fell 42.9 percent to 1.36 billion yuan, it said.
Revenue rose by 5 percent to 215.29 billion yuan. Benchmark London copper prices fell by 17.7 percent between Jan. 1 2018 and the end of the year but the company noted prices still averaged 5.6 percent higher than in 2017 at $6,543 a tonne.
Jiangxi Copper, which said on March 4 it planned to buy a controlling stake in 250,000 tonne per year copper smelter Shandong Humon Smelting Co, plans to produce 1.44 million tonnes of copper cathode in 2019, up 1.4 percent from last year's target of 1.42 million tonnes.
An owner of mines and smelting facilities, it also aims to produce 205,800 tonnes of copper contained in copper concentrate this year, and 25 tonnes of gold and 313 tonnes of silver.
Fourth-quarter profit was 402.5 million yuan, up from 23 million yuan a year earlier. In the third quarter Jiangxi Copper posted its best quarterly profit in four years at 767.3 million yuan amid high copper concentrate processing fees.
(By Tom Daly; Editing by David Evans)