Oz Minerals warns on profit, possible writedowns

SYDNEY, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Oz Minerals Ltd (OZL.AX), the world's second-largest zinc miner and a major supplier of copper, lead and nickel to China, warned investors on Wednesday of lower profits and possible asset writedowns. The company, already embarked on a review of operations amid sharply lower metal prices and tighter credit markets, said it would also now review the book value of its assets, including shareholdings in Toro Energy (TOE.AX) and Nyrstar (NYR.BR).

Oz Minerals, which was recently formed out of the merger of Oxiana and Zinifex, added that it would report lower earnings in 2008 on a pro-forma basis.

(Reporting by Mark Bendeich; editing by James Thornhill)