China's Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group reported Wednesday a net profit of Yuan 179.2 million ($28.4 million) for the third quarter ended September 30, down 46% year on year, mainly because of weaker copper prices.


In a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, it reported a net profit of Yuan 676.8 million for the nine months to September 30, down 34.6% year on year.


The company's operating revenue was about Yuan 19 billion in the third quarter of 2012, up 7.9% year on year. Over January-September, it saw a marginal 1.3% rise in operating profit to Yuan 52.72 billion.

Tongling Nonferrous earlier said it was aiming to increase its production of refined copper in 2012 by 20% to 1.02 million mt. In 2011, it produced 854,400 mt. Its output target for copper concentrate, however, is 485,000 mt this year, marginally down from 488,000 mt last year.