Friday preview: Anglo American reveals fourth-quarter results

Mining heavyweight Anglo American is expected to reveal a 'disappointing' drop in production when it posts its fourth quarter results Friday.

Citigroup analysts forecast "a disappointing 15% drop in copper equivalent volumes year-on-year".

It said operations were hit by labour issues, declining grades and/or weak markets.

The financial services company expects a 50% decline in equivalent refined platinum year-on-year to 292,000 ounces, a 16% drop in diamonds to 5.5m carats, a 9.0% slide in copper to 154,700 tonnes and a 14% fall in iron ore to 10.7m tonnes.

JP Morgan this week noted Anglo was falling behind its rivals BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto in the past 10 years.

"We reduce our Dec-13 target price to £16.30/shr (£16.70/shr previously) and reiterate our 'underweight' [rating]," JPM's Frasier Jamieson said.

The troubled miner made headlines this week as reports suggested it may write down the value of its iron ore project in Brazil by as much as $5bn following mismanagement of the project which led to a rapid increase in costs.

The expected costs of the Minas-Rio mine, one of Anglo's major projects, was revised higher several times increasing from an initial estimate of $3.6bn to about $8bn. It is understood the company will slash the value of the mine by $5bn before issuing full year numbers on February 15th.

Meanwhile, the company's plans to restructure its platinum division in South Africa last week were met with a backlash from politicians and unions, as people expressed their anger at plans to cut thousands of jobs.

Yet shares were up 1.34% to 1,894.00p at 16:05 one day ahead of the fourth-quarter statement.

Friday January 25

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