South Africa's Kumba Iron Ore profit forecast lifts shares

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Kumba Iron Ore (Other OTC: KIROY - news) , which Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news) has put up for sale, said on Wednesday its profit more than doubled for the year, setting it up to outstrip forecasts when it reports earnings next month.

Africa's biggest miner of iron ore, which is used in steel-making, is one of the assets Anglo is jettisoning as part of a sweeping overhaul to cope with a rout in commodity prices.

Anglo owns 70 percent of Kumba, which a year ago cut output and jobs to cope with weaker iron ore prices at the time.

Kumba said headline earnings per share (EPS) for the year to end-December would likely be in a range of 26.36 rand to 27.72 rand, between 123 percent and 125 percent higher on a year ago basis, when it reports on 14 Feb.

Kumba's forecast is well above a 22.32 rand estimate in a poll of 14 analysts by Reuters and its shares, which have surged nearly 20 percent so far this year, climbed 7.18 percent to 187.57 rand, a level last seen five weeks ago.

It said the results were boosted by a weaker rand currency and higher iron ore prices.

Unlike oil, gold and copper, whose benchmark pricing is set in London and New York, iron ore is one of the few commodities whose global pricing takes its cue from China.

Iron Ore futures prices have gained more than 10 percent so far this month to build on last year's rally, largely spurred by China's efforts to tackle a chronic glut in its steel sector. (Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by Alexander Smith)