Antofagasta H1 Profit Jumps 72%, Copper Target Cut

Chile · Business

A record copper price filled the bank account. Bad weather emptied a few trucks. That split explains why one of Chile’s biggest miners can post a huge profit jump and still see its shares fall.

The strong Antofagasta H1 profit told one story on Thursday, and the company’s own forecast told another. The Chilean copper miner, controlled by the Luksic family and run in Chile as Antofagasta Minerals (AMSA), said first-half pre-tax profit rose about 72% to US$1,995.8 million. In the same breath, it trimmed how much copper it expects to dig up this year — and investors in London focused on the cut.

Antofagasta lifted profit but trimmed its 2026 copper output target. (Photo: Internet Reproduction)

A bumper Antofagasta H1 profit, powered by price

Here is the simple version. Copper sold for a lot more in the first half of 2026 than a year earlier, so Antofagasta made a lot more money even while producing less metal.

Revenue climbed 18% to US$4.48 billion. EBITDA — a rough measure of cash earnings before interest, tax and accounting charges — jumped 27% to US$2.84 billion. The company’s EBITDA margin, the share of revenue it keeps as cash profit, reached 63.4%. Net cash costs fell 8% to US$1.22 per pound, which means each pound of copper was cheaper to produce even as prices soared.

What “guidance” means, and what changed

When a company gives “guidance,” it is simply telling investors what it expects to happen — here, how many tonnes of copper it plans to produce this year. It is a promise-shaped estimate, and markets watch it closely.

Antofagasta now expects 625,000 to 655,000 tonnes of copper in 2026. The old range was 650,000 to 700,000 tonnes. So the top end came down by 45,000 tonnes, and the whole band shifted lower. First-half production had already slipped 9% to about 285,000 tonnes, so the market was primed for softer numbers.

Blame the weather, mostly

The main culprit was an extreme storm. Heavy rain and snow hit Chile’s Coquimbo region in July, and the government declared a “state of catastrophe.”

Antofagasta paused work at Los Pelambres, its flagship mine, as a precaution. Add softer output at Los Pelambres and the larger Centinela operation, and the full-year target no longer looked safe. None of that changes the cash the company banked in the first half — but production is what investors pay for over the long run, so the shares slid about 5.3% in London.

A bigger dividend, and a strong balance sheet

Shareholders still got more cash. The board declared an interim dividend of 30.1 US cents per share, up 81% from 16.6 cents a year earlier, and ahead of what analysts had penciled in.

The balance sheet stayed comfortable. Net debt sat at 0.68 times EBITDA, a modest level for a miner, up slightly from 0.53 times at the end of 2025. Operating cash flow rose 53% to US$2.77 billion. In plain terms, Antofagasta is generating far more cash than it needs to keep the lights on.

Why this matters if you live in or invest in Latin America

Copper is Chile’s paycheck. It is the country’s biggest export, a major source of tax revenue, and a strong driver of the Chilean peso. When a major like Antofagasta produces less, it is a small signal about the whole system — weather, water and aging ore bodies all nibbling at output across Chilean mines.

For you, the read-through is twofold. Tight copper supply plus firm demand tends to keep prices high, which supports Chile’s economy and its currency. But repeated production stumbles also remind investors that Chilean copper is getting harder and more expensive to mine, a theme worth tracking if you hold mining shares, an emerging-market fund, or simply earn and spend in the region.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: Antofagasta plc 2026 Half Year Results and CEO statement; MINING.COM; Investing.com; DirectorsTalk Interviews; company production reports. Chilean peso reference rate US$1 = CLP 914 (no peso figures required, as Antofagasta reports in US dollars).