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Feb 14 (Reuters) - Newcrest Mining Ltd (NCM) , Australia's top gold miner, on Thursday said its first-half profit more than doubled, buoyed by record gold and copper production at its Cadia operations.
First-half results were also boosted by a weakening of the Australian dollar, which helped control costs at its Australian operations, the company said.
Copper production during the first-half came in at 51.8 thousand tonnes, a jump of 33 percent, while sales revenue rose less than 1 percent to $1.73 billion for first-half of fiscal 2018, the company reported.
Underlying profit for the six months ended Dec. 31 came in at $237 million, up from $116 million a year ago. UBS had estimated net profit after tax of $223 million.
Gold production for the half-year climbed to 1.2 million ounces, about 6 percent higher than last year, while all-in sustaining cost fell 13 percent to $747 per ounce.
The company said it expects total capital expenditure for fiscal 2019 to be around the lower end of the forecast it issued last month of between $590 million and $690 million.
In December, the miner raised its holdings in Ecuador gold and copper developer SolGold Plc SOLG.L , in a move that strengthened its position as the biggest investor ahead of rival BHP Group (BHP) .
Gold producers have been on a deal-making spree in a bid to boost their waning reserves amid higher bullion prices.
Newcrest is seen by analysts as the likely candidate to combine with a North American rival, following recent acquisitions by major mining companies Barrick Gold ABX.TO and Newmont Mining NEM.N .
The company also announced an interim dividend of 7.5 cents per share, the same as last year.
