It is reported that Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co, China's top copper smelter H1 earnings jumped 89%, as gains from by products and asset acquisitions offset a lower profit from the company's core business.

Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co said in a statement that net income increased to CNY 595 million or CNY 0.46 a share from CNY 315.5 million or CNY 0.37 a year ago, while sales rose 33% to CNY 2.1 billion.

Anhui Province-based Tongling Nonferrous attributed the gain to higher prices of its by-products from copper smelting such as sulfuric acid and gold. Gross profit margin for the by-product segment surged 73% YoY.

The company said the results were also boosted by increased capacity and sales volume after the company acquired parent assets in the second half of last year through a private share placement. It said copper output rose 15.5% YoY to 317,700 tonnes in the first half, or 17% of China's total production. But Tongling Nonferrous said it was concerned by a sharp drop in profits from copper smelting and its refining business. The company said lower processing fees was behind the fall.

Chinese copper smelters earn the processing charges for copper concentrate supplied by foreign miners such as BHP Billiton.