Freeport-McMoRan Inc.’s profit fell in the fourth quarter as the price of copper fell even as the company’s costs rose.
The copper and gold miner said net income attributable to shareholders fell to $697 million, or 48 cents a share, from $1.11 billion, or 74 cents a share, a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings were 52 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting adjusted earnings of 47 cents a share.
Revenue fell to $5.76 billion from $6.16 billion a year earlier. Analysts were expecting revenue of $5.45 billion.
Consolidated sales were 1.0 billion pounds of copper, 458,000 ounces of gold and 19 million pounds of molybdenum.
The average realized price for copper in the quarter was $3.77 a pound, down from $4.42 a pound in the same period a year ago.
Freeport-McMoRan said market sentiment improved late last year thanks to rising demand from China, demand from decarbonization initiatives, supply constraints, U.S. dollar exchange rates and low inventories.
The company said the price of copper fell from its highs last year even as some costs remain elevated. Copper unit net cash costs per pound rose to $1.53 in the quarter from $1.29, the company said.
