RBC Capital upgrades Antofagasta to 'outperform'

RBC Capital Markets upgraded its stance on Chilean copper miner Antofagasta on Thursday to ‘outperform’ from ‘sector perform’ and hiked the price target to 1,800p from 1,300p.

The bank said a rapid tightening in expected copper supply has brought forward a medium-term bull market.

"We are now 9% ahead of consensus prices for 2024/25," RBC said. "With Centinela's second concentrator now approved, ANTO has the highest forecast copper-equivalent growth in our large cap coverage. This, and improving prices should double earnings by 2028."

RBC said it expects the company to remain modestly free cash flow positive through construction.

"ANTO is expensive, but should stay this way with dual drivers for earnings growth," it said.

At 0910 GMT, the shares were up 2.2% at 1,618.50p.