Brazilian miner Vale posted on Thursday a 35% fall in its second-quarter net profit from a year earlier, while lifting the lower end of its copper and nickel 2026 production outlook range and announcing a new share buyback.

On the downside, Vale increased its projections for all-in costs and production costs for iron ore this year by 11%, based on the mid-points, due to a stronger Brazilian real and higher oil prices.

Vale, one of the largest iron ore producers in the world, posted a $1.38 billion net profit for the April-June quarter, below the $1.85 billion expected in a LSEG analyst poll, hit by financial effects including derivatives and taxes.

Despite the decline, analysts from JPMorgan and Santander welcomed core earnings higher than expected, signaling a potential positive share reaction on Friday.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) landed at $3.68 billion, up 9% year-on-year.

Vale said the increase came due to higher sales across its business segments, which offset a rise in freight and other costs, as well as currency effects.

While the reported figure was below an LSEG adjusted EBITDA forecast of $3.83 billion, analysts noted that, when excluding some non-recurring items, core earnings would stand at $4.07 billion, above their expectations.

Net revenue increased 19% in the period to $10.50 billion, roughly matching expectations of $10.47 billion.

That was boosted by Vale’s highest second-quarter output since 2018 — the year before the collapse of a dam in the Brazilian city of Brumadinho, which killed an estimated 270 people and triggered a safety review of the firm’s projects.

Vale announced a new share buyback program of up to 100 million shares to be carried out within an 18-month period, and the payment of $1.7 billion to shareholders through dividends and interest on equity.

Separately, it projected 2026 copper production would land between 360,000 and 380,000 metric tons, raising the bottom end of the range by 10,000 tons from its previous forecast.

For nickel, the firm estimated output between 185,000 and 200,000 tons this year, also up by 10,000 tons at the bottom end of the range.

(By Andre Romani and Marta Nogueira; Editing by Chris Reese, Natalia Siniawski and Sonali Paul)