Teck Resources swings to profit

Teck Resources said late Monday it posted a fourth-quarter profit of $411 million, rebounding from a year-before loss due mainly to stronger base metal prices.

Teck, Canada's largest base metals miner, earned 70 cents a share in the quarter ended December 31.

That compared with a loss of $607 million, or $1.28 a share in the fourth-quarter of 2008, when the company's results were sideswiped by more than $1 billion of writedowns and negative pricing adjustments.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S had expected, on average, a profit of 65 cents a share.

Fourth-quarter revenue rose to $2.2 billion from $1.6 billion on the back of higher copper and zinc prices.

Teck's shares ended 30 cents firmer at $34.50 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday. The results were released after the market had closed.

In addition to being a major miner of zinc and copper, Teck also became a top producer of coal used in the steelmaking process when it acquired Fording Canadian Coal Trust in 2008.

Teck also holds a 20-percent stake in the Fort Hills oil sands project. Its partners on Fort Hills are Suncor Energy and UTS Energy.

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