(Reuters) - Australian miner OZ Minerals Ltd <OZL.AX> reported a doubling of annual net profit on Thursday, helped by a recovery in copper prices.
Higher copper prices since May helped net profit for 2017 rise to A$231.1 million ($180.49 million) from A$107.8 million a year ago, ahead of analysts’ expectations of A$209.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The firm, which also mines gold and silver, declared a final dividend of 14 Australian cents per share, matching the payout made a year ago.
In August, the firm said it would start building its Carrapateena copper mine in Australia at a projected A$916 million cost.
OZ Minerals would spend about A$500 million as construction capital for Carrapateena in 2018, the company said in its results statement to the exchange on Thursday.
Copper is perceived to be a growth commodity because of its versatility, with uses from power transmission to construction. It usually sees price moves in lockstep with infrastructure demand and future expectations of the global economy.
(Reporting by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru; editing by Grant McCool)
