Feb 19 (Reuters) – Teck Resources beat fourth-quarter profit expectations on Thursday, helped by a surge in copper prices and production, as the Canadian miner advanced its proposed merger with Anglo American.
The beat underscores Teck’s growing leverage to copper, a metal central to electrification and energy transition demand, while the company works to complete a merger that would create one of the world’s largest copper producers.
Teck and Anglo shareholders voted in favour of the merger in December, paving the way for the creation of a copper heavyweight and leaving regulatory approvals as the final hurdle.
Teck and Anglo first announced plans in September in a $53 billion all-stock, nil-premium merger that would create the world’s fifth-largest copper producer.
Both companies have undergone significant restructuring in recent years, driven in part by previous takeover attempts.
Teck said realized copper prices rose 22.5% in the fourth-quarter to $5.11 per pound, while production rose nearly 10% to 134,000 tons.
“Copper production increased compared to the same period last year supported by higher throughput and grades at Highland Valley Copper, higher grades at Antamina, and higher throughput at Carmen de Andacollo,” the company said in a statement.
Production at the Quebrada Blanca (QB) mine in Chile improved as the company advanced development of its tailings management facility.
Copper output at QB was 55,400 tons in the fourth quarter, lower than the previous year, but the strongest quarterly performance of 2025.
The miner reported adjusted earnings of C$1.37 per share for the quarter ended December 31, above analysts’ average estimate of 91 Canadian cents, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Teck maintained its 2026 copper output outlook at 455,000 – 530,000 tons.
(Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
Comments