Johannesburg - Kumba Iron Ore Ltd. surged the most since September 2012 in Johannesburg trading after the Anglo American Plc unit said profit for 2013 will rise at least 20 percent.
Headline earnings per share, which exclude one-time items, climbed from 37.97 rand ($3.69) last year, the Pretoria-based company that runs Africa’s biggest mine of the steelmaking ingredient said in a statement today.
The median of 17 analysts estimates is for profit of 46.46 rand a share, according to a Bloomberg survey.
The results will be release on or about February 11.
The shares climbed as much as 5.5 percent, the most in 15 months, to 416 rand.
Profit increased after iron-ore export prices increased and the rand weakened against the dollar, it said.
Kumba receives payment in dollars for its iron-ore exports from South Africa.
The rand has depreciated 18 percent against the US currency this year.
The earnings have been “partially offset by lower production at the Sishen mine,” Africa’s largest iron-ore operation, it said.
Ore with 62 percent content delivered to the Chinese port of Tianjin has traded at an average of $135.37 a dry ton this year, 5.5 percent more than the mean for 2012, according to The Steel Index.
Kumba traded 3.6 percent stronger at 409.30 rand by 9:48 a.m. in Johannesburg. - Bloomberg News