LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Australian mining and metals company South32's underlying earnings rose 16% in its last trading year, as strong demand for manganese and alumina products offset lower output from its Illawarra coal project.
South 32's underlying earnings jumped 15% to $1.33bn, printing just ahead of analysts' expectations of a $1.32bn reading.

Underlying operating earnings from the group's Worsley Alumina unit more than doubled to $422m despite a drop in production.

South32's manganese output rose 10% year-on-year and while that of coking coal fell, it beat estimates due to a ramp-up in production at the firm's Illawarra plant, where work had been put on hold in 2017 due to elevated gas levels at its Appin coal mine.

The dual-listed firm now expects 6.1m tonnes of production from the project in 2019 and a return to historical run rates of more than 8m tonnes per year by the second half of 2020.

South32 will pay a final dividend of 6.2 cents per share, a touch down from the 6.4 cents per share it paid out in 2017.

The group, which was once a part of mining giant BHP Billiton, expects production to climb by around 5% in fiscal 2019.

As of 1020 BST, South32 shares had picked up 4.36% to 196.30p.

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