By Natalia Siniawski and Kylie Madry
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mining and transport conglomerate Grupo Mexico reported a 17% jump in first-quarter net profit on Friday, primarily driven by higher metal prices.
Net profit rose to $1.09 billion, well above the $816 million estimate from analysts polled by LSEG, as copper and silver prices surged and the miner trimmed production costs.
Copper production and sales were nearly flat from the year-ago quarter, with output from U.S. unit Asarco slipping.
Prices for the red metal, however, rose 18% from a year ago while silver leaped some 38%.
That brought revenue for Grupo Mexico, which also operates sprawling freight railroads and an infrastructure division, up 10% to $4.20 billion in the quarter.
The company also touted trimmed production costs for copper and byproducts as adding an earnings boost.
Grupo Mexico, controlled by billionaire German Larrea, is one of the world’s largest copper producers with mines in Peru, the United States, Spain and its home base of Mexico.
The company could be at risk from the trade war breaking out between the United States and China, with copper prices slumping since the end of the first quarter.
Copper was exempted from sweeping tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump in March, though analysts say import taxes on the metal could be coming as well.
Grupo Mexico did note that tariffs and trade policies could have an impact on its results.
(Reporting by Natalia Siniawski and Kylie Madry; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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