"It looked promising for the next year or so, which is what the market is really expecting," said Don Hamson, head of active Australian equities at State Street Global Advisers.
BHP Billiton, whose products range from copper and iron ore to oil, said it expected demand to outstrip supply over 2005. After that, world appetite for key revenue earners such as copper would likely back off as more metal finds its way to end users.
The refined copper shortage - which has pushed up prices 40 percent to about $3,150 a tonne in the past year - should ease as more smelters come online, BHP Billiton Chief Commercial Officer Marius Kloppers told a briefing.
Profit excluding exceptional items for the six months to December 31 rose to $2.76 billion from $1.2 billion a year earlier, above analysts' forecasts for about $2.5 billion.
Even before the results, analysts had already expected BHP Billiton would earn $5 billion-plus for the year - the highest profit ever for an Australian-listed company.
"We've got it closer to $6 billion now," said Macquarie Bank analyst Ben Lyons, who had previously pegged a full-year profit of $5.79 billion.
The company increased its interim dividend to 13.5 US cents a share, up from 8.0 US cents a year earlier.
BHP's shares touched as high as A$17.87 in Australia, and posted the biggest rise on the FTSE-100 index in London, helping to lift fellow miners Xstrata Plc and Anglo American Plc, which are both yet to report 2004 results.