Despite the market sinking lower on Wednesday, the South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) share price has continued its strong run.
In afternoon trade the diversified mining company's shares climbed over 2% to a new all-time high of $3.28. This brought its year-to-date return to over 18%.
Why are its shares at an all-time high?
The majority of South32's gains have come following the release of its full-year results in August.
Those results revealed a profit after tax of US$1,231 million in FY 2017, compared to a loss of US$1,615 million a year earlier.
While stronger commodity prices played a key role in this impressive turnaround, management also deserves credit for its work on cost controls and strong production rates.
The good news for shareholders is that management expects similarly strong production in FY 2018, with costs increasing only slightly on FY 2017.
