South32 Sees Fivefold Profit Surge Amid Copper Price Boom

South32's diversified mining operations have generated significant profits, despite a modest revenue increase of just 1% to $5.8 billion. The company's realised copper price saw a nearly 42% boost for the year ending June 2026, while silver prices more than doubled.

These higher commodity prices contributed directly to wider margins, with the operating margin at South32's copper business expanding from 58% to 66%, and its zinc-lead-silver operations seeing a rise from 43% to 53%. The group margin widened by nearly five percentage points to 31%.

The increased profitability led to a more than fivefold surge in attributable profit, rising to $1.09 billion from $213 million the previous year. This growth was largely driven by wider margins and higher commodity prices, as well as the recovery of South32's Australian manganese operations and the absence of heavy impairment charges that depressed the prior-year result.

South32 has announced plans to sell most of its aluminium business, including the Hillside smelter in Richards Bay and operations in Brazil and Australia, to US producer Alcoa for up to $5.6 billion. This move aims to simplify and strengthen South32's portfolio, positioning it as a leading base-metals-focused company with high-margin producing assets.