Antofagasta copper king pockets £52m

CHILEAN copper king Andronico Luksic has bagged a near-£53m windfall after seeing his Antofagasta mining empire more than treble full-year profits. Luksic, one of the richest men in South America, will be the major winner as the group rewards shareholders following a bumper year in the copper market.

The group, a rumoured takeover target of Xstrata and US giant Phelps Dodge, is paying out a special dividend of 40 cents a share. This takes its total for the year to 79 cents, up 126%.

The son of a Croatian immigrant, 78-year-old Luksic still holds a controlling 65% stake in the business he has transformed from an ageing railroad company. The £52.6m dividend will add to the entrepreneur's estimated $4.2bn (£2.2bn) fortune, enough to make him the richest man in Chile and place him in the top 150 of the Forbes world rankings.

Luksic stepped down as chairman in November to be honorary president. His son Jean-Paul has since replaced him at the top. Jean-Paul said: 'This is another good set of results for Antofagasta.'

The group, elevated to the FTSE 100 index last year, has benefited from the startling rise in commodity metal prices as the Chinese, Russian and Indian economies power ahead. London Metal Exchange copper prices averaged 130 cents per pound in 2004, compared with 80.7 cents the previous year.

Antofagasta's copper output last year rose nearly 6% to 498,400 tonnes and pre-tax profits surged to a record $1.16bn, up 226% on the $357.2m reported a year ago. The group also netted significantly higher prices for molybdenum, a copper by-product.

Chief financial officer Hussein Barma said: 'The market has helped a lot, but all our three mines achieved the forecasts we set in the second half of the year.' Of the special dividend payout, Barma added: 'We basically felt it was a very strong year and we were happy to return cash to shareholders. We felt it was something we could afford.'

Luksic's next challenge could be to decide who to sell his stake to. Analysts believe a bid is likely as competition hots up among the integrated majors around the world. John Meyer, analyst at Numis, said: 'There are a number of majors who would love the company's assets in their portfolio.' Antofagasta's shares were unchanged today at 1327p, still 59% up on last summer's low.

? Mining giant Rio Tinto has warned that the runaway metals prices driving the industry cannot last forever and that supply shortfalls are starting to ease.