Anglo American's profits plummet

JOHANNESBURG - Mining giant Anglo American reported plummeting profits as it released its results for the first half of the year on Friday.

The group -- which rejected a merger proposal from rival Xstrata PLC last month -- said underlying earnings slumped by almost 70 percent in the first half of the year as the global meltdown took its toll on demand for commodities.

Pre-tax profits slumped to US3.63 billion from US6.47 billion on revenues of US11.1 billion, a decline of 38 percent.

Underlying earnings brought even worse news as they reflected a decline to US1.1 billion from US3.48 billion.

Anglo American’s CEO Cynthia Carroll said “after a rate of market decline that has been unprecedented,” she expected demand to remain soft in the near term until OECD (Organistion for Co-operation and Development) countries began to recover materially.

“China continues to grow strongly and is key to demand, particularly for iron ore, copper and platinum.

“While we have seen some recovery in metals prices, macro economic indicators are mixed and the economic outlook remains uncertain in the near term; however, the fundamentals for the medium to longer term remain highly attractive,” Carroll said.

-Sapa