Anglo runs the De Beers diamond company in addition to mining a number of precious and base metals, including palladium, which on Wednesday hit $1,500 an ounce for the first time. Prices of Anglo's mined metals grew by 4.0 percent on average last year, the company said in the statement.
Metals production meanwhile climbed 6.0 percent in 2018, while the group is also benefitting from heavy cost cutting. "Our commitment to disciplined capital allocation has helped strengthen our balance sheet by more than $10 billion over three years, with net debt reduced to $2.8 billion at the end of 2018," chief executive Mark Cutifani said in the statement. Group revenue rose 5.0 percent last year to $27.6 billion.