LONDON: Copper producer Kaz Minerals , formerly known as Kazakhmys, said on Thursday that its Bozshakol project was on track to start production by the end 2015, as it posted annual core profit slightly above analysts' forecasts.
Like its peers, the London-listed company is under pressure from a steep fall in the price of copper. In response to shrinking margins, Kaz last year implemented a restructuring which has transformed it into a smaller but lower cost copper producer.
Kaz reported core profit, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), of $355 million from continuing operations, down from $359 million a year earlier but slightly above forecasts.
It said cost-cutting measures had offset lower revenue. Under the revamp plan completed last year, Kaz hived off some of its oldest and least profitable assets to a private company owned by two of its shareholders to focus on lower-cost, open-pit mines and growth projects.
"In our view, today's results highlight the substantial progress the group has made through its restructuring," Citi analysts said in a note.
Its production of copper cathode dropped to 83,500 tonnes in 2014 from 294,000 tonnes. It expects to produce 80,000-85,000 tonnes in 2015 and to increase output to about 300,000 tonnes by 2018 and around 350,000 a couple of years later, through development of Bozshakol, and its Aktogay and Koksay projects.
The company on Thursday also announced the appointment of John MacKenzie, a mining executive who previously worked at Anglo American, as an independent non-executive director with effect from March 1.
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