By Thomas Biesheuvel.
Anglo American Plc saw a steep jump in earnings, driven by the copper mines that it’s put at the centre of its new strategy.
Anglo is approaching the finishing stages of a radical transformation of its business. As part of a plan to fend off an approach from BHP Group in 2024, the company unveiled a restructuring that included exiting diamonds, coal and platinum. Since then, it has struck its own deal to buy Teck Resources to create one of the world’s biggest copper miners.
That focus on copper paid dividends in the first half. Profits from its mines in South America surged by two-thirds to $2.9 billion during the period, with the metal now contributing about 70% of its earnings. That exposure will grow further when it completes the acquisition of Teck.
Anglo reported a 35% increase in first-half underlying earnings from its continuing operations, with profits of $4 billion. The company will pay an interim dividend of 23 cents a share, more than three times higher than a year earlier.
Anglo’s shares rose 1.6% by 9:17 a.m. in London.
Rival Rio Tinto Group — and soon to be acquired Teck — have already posted strong results based on higher metal prices. Copper hit a record high in the first half, driven by tight supply, strong demand from the artificial-intelligence boom and trade dislocations from tariffs.
The Teck deal will give Anglo access to the Canadian firm’s portfolio of copper mines, including its flagship Quebrada Blanca mine in northern Chile, which neighbours Anglo’s Collahuasi project. Shareholders of both companies have approved the deal and the Anglo is now working on winning regulatory approval from China.
By contrast, the commodities Anglo is exiting continued to struggle.
Its De Beers unit posted a $113 million loss as the diamond industry continued to be mired in one of its deepest ever crises.
Anglo is discussing a deal worth about $1 billion to sell its 85% stake in De Beers, just a fraction of what the one-time diamond monopoly was once worth. The company has taken three impairments on De Beers in just three years as gem prices plunged.
“It’s a process that has been characterised by many many complications, particularity those associated with the state of the diamond market over the last few years,” Anglo Chief Executive Officer Duncan Wanblad said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Thursday. “Despite all that, we have made great progress and are now pretty close to the end.”
Wanblad said Thursday that Anglo expects to agree a sale of De Beers in the second half of the year. The company has already spun off its platinum business.
Anglo reported a net loss after taking a write-down on the coal business it agreed to sell in the period.
It agreed to sell its steel making coal mines in Australia to Dhilmar for as much as $3.88 billion in cash, as the mining company continues to reshape its business.
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