,3 Oct 2011 15:01
It is time to stop selling copper miner Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) according to Citi’s Anindya Mohinta.
“We upgrade ANTO to ‘hold’ from ‘sell’ to reflect the sell-off in the shares,” the analyst said. “ANTO’s performance has been mixed this year (down 40.5 per cent in year to date) – it has underperformed Rio Tinto (down 33.8 per cent in ytd), First Quantum Minerals (down 31 per cent ytd) and outperformed KAZ (down 48 per cent ytd).”
The Citi analyst added: “We think Esperanza represents the group’s last major project in the near term. While there is a strong possibility that the board may approve the $1.35 billon Antucoya project, the lack of by products could delay approval in our view if copper prices continue to weaken.”