Peru Cerro Verde mine 1st-qtr net profit rises

LIMA, April 28 (Reuters) - Copper Miner Cerro Verde (CVE.LM: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday its first-quarter net profit rose 137 percent compared to a year ago as prices for the red metal surged.

Cerro Verde, owned by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc (FCX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Peru's Buenaventura (BUEv.LM: Quote, Profile, Research)(BVN.N: Quote, Profile, Research), said its net profit in the first three months of 2008 was $352.1 million, compared with $148.6 million a year earlier.

The mine said copper cathodes and concentrate production rose to 166.2 million pounds in the January through March period, compared with 112.2 million pounds in the first quarter of 2007. Revenue in the quarter rose to $711.4 million from $317.7 million in the same three months last year.

Average copper prices in the period were $3.52 per pound, compared with $2.69 in last year's quarter, the company said.

Earlier this month, Buenaventura's chief executive said copper output at Cerro Verde in 2008 should grow to 300,000 tonnes from 269,537 tonnes in 2007. (Reporting by Maria Luisa Palomino, Writing by Dana Ford, Editing by Toni Reinhold)