Atalaya Mining PLC on Wednesday said successful cost cutting and improving copper prices bolstered financial performance in the second quarter.

The Spain-focused copper miner said pretax profit jumped 46% to €16.1 million in the second quarter that ended June 30 from €11.1 million the previous year.

Revenue increased 18% to €92.2 million from €78.2 million, as cost of sales rose 6.0% to €60.2 million from €56.8 million.

Copper production fell 18% to 11,583 from 14,212 tonnes, while the average realised copper price rose 19% to $4.54 from $3.81 per pound.

Atalaya cut its interim dividend by 20% to $0.04 from $0.05 per share.

Administrative & other expenses decreased 15% to €3.1 million; exploration expenses decreased 47% to €1.1 million; care & maintenance expenditure multiplied to €1.6 million from €391,000.

Chief Executive Officer Alberto Lavandeira said: ‘We had good financial performance in Q2 2024 thanks to strong copper prices and cost control. Copper grades were lower than in comparable periods, but we expect to see an improvement in grades and strong plant performance in H2 2024.

‘We continue to be bullish on copper despite price volatility of late. Recent M&A activity involving long-dated projects that will require significant capital investments highlight the robust outlook for copper and the increasing scarcity of high-quality assets.’

The company reaffirmed full year copper production guidance of 45,000 to 50,000 tonnes compared with 51,667 tonnes produced in 2023.

Atalaya Mining shares were up 0.9% to 343.50 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.

Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.