KGHM announces healthy Q3 results of zl. 65 million

Polish copper and telecoms group KGHM reported yesterday that it turned a zl. 65 million consolidated net profit in the third quarter, thanks to successful hedging of copper prices and favorable exchange rates. In the July-September period of last year KGHM - the world's seventh-biggest copper producer and number two in silver output - suffered a zl. 142 million loss. Earlier this month, KGHM surprised markets when it reported a strong zl. 103 million unconsolidated net profit in the third quarter, though its debt-laden phone unit Dialog reported a zl. 47 million loss over the period. "Those figures will likely be neutral for the market. The most important are the results of the parent company, which were published earlier," said Michal Mierzwa, analyst at Erste Securities in Warsaw. Shares in KGHM, which have rallied 20% in recent weeks after the company raised its 2002 core earnings forecast, closed 2.8% up at zl. 12.75 yesterday. KGHM has said its strong core performance and the shrinking debts of its smaller subsidiaries could lift the group into the black by the end of this year after it suffered a record zl. 787 million consolidated loss in 2001. In the January-September period of this year, the company had a zl. 0.9 million profit. KGHM, with a market value of around $640 million, sees its unconsolidated net profit at zl. 141 million in all of 2002 thanks partly to increased copper and silver output. (Reuters) A.Z.