Harmony doubles dividend after gold price rally, flags lower copper output

March 11 (Reuters) - South Africa's Harmony Gold HARJ.J on Wednesday said its half-year profit rose 13% as higher bullion prices offset the impact of lower output and grades, allowing the miner to more than double its dividend.

Harmony's headline earnings per share - a profit measure - came in at 14.31 rand ($0.8827) in the six months to December 31, from 12.70 rand previously.

The biggest gold producer in South Africa declared an interim dividend of 5.30 rand per share, up from 2.27 rand previously, making a record payment of 3.38 billion rand.

The price of gold XAU= soared by about 60% in 2025, driven by geopolitical and economic uncertainty, expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts, and increased purchases by central banks amid a global de-dollarisation trend.

This year has seen further momentum, with gold prices gaining almost 30% to a record high near $5,600 an ounce at the end of January.

Harmony’s gold production fell 9% to 724,099 ounces, reflecting earthquake-related disruptions at Hidden Valley in Papua New Guinea and a sodium cyanide shortage in South Africa during the second quarter.

The company has forecast copper output of 17,500 to 18,500 metric tons from its newly acquired CSA mine in Australia in the current financial year, which ends in June.

CEO Beyers Nel said the lower annualised production rate of about 28,000 metric tons, compared with the mine’s historical 40,000 tons, was mainly due to safety stoppages and shaft rehabilitation.

Harmony acquired the CSA mine in October 2025, expanding its copper portfolio which also includes the Eva copper project in Australia, and the Wafi-Golpu project in Papua New Guinea, jointly owned with Newmont NEM.N.

The company aims to reach 100,000 metric tons of annual copper production within the next three years.

Harmony has diversified into copper - a metal critical to electric vehicles and power grid infrastructure - to take advantage of growing demand for the metal amid a global shift to cleaner energy.

($1 = 16.2118 rand)