Citigroup has reaffirmed its "Buy" rating for CMOC (03993) while setting an unchanged target price of HK$11.20. The mining giant issued a positive profit alert projecting first-half net profit between RMB 8.2 billion and RMB 9.1 billion - a robust 51.4% to 68% year-on-year surge. Despite this impressive growth, the figures represent just 61% to 67% of the bank's full-year forecast, narrowly missing expectations.

Breaking down quarterly performance reveals Q2 net profit jumped 27% to 54% year-on-year while climbing 8% to 31% quarter-on-quarter. CMOC attributes the profit expansion primarily to higher average selling prices for copper and cobalt products coupled with increased copper shipments.

Production metrics further illustrate the momentum: first-half copper output soared 12.7% year-on-year with cobalt rising 13.1%, collectively reaching 54% of Citigroup's annual projection. Second-quarter production specifically showed copper volumes up 10% year-on-year and 7.3% quarter-on-quarter, while cobalt output increased 6.4% year-on-year and 0.8% sequentially.