Chilean government allows Codelco to capitalize 100% of 2025 profits

Chile's government has made an "unprecedented and historic" decision to allow the state-owned copper giant Codelco to retain 100% of its 2025 profits. This move will inject approximately $2.42 billion directly into the company, a significant move aimed at bolstering its financial health.

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The President has made the fiscal, patrimonial, and political decision to authorize Codelco to capitalize 100% of the profits corresponding to the 2025 fiscal year, which represents a direct injection of approximately 2,423 million dollars that will remain entirely within the company.

Economy and Mining Minister Daniel Mas announced the decision, emphasizing that the funds will remain entirely within the company. This measure seeks to provide Codelco with "real equity capacity" as it confronts years of financial and operational decline. The announcement was made during the Miner's Day commemoration.

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We are with Codelco. That is why we will capitalize 100% of its 2025 profits. We announce it today as a recognition of its selfless and transcendental labor. The Corporation is key to the development of Chileans and for the financing of the State.

President José Antonio Kast stated that the decision recognizes Codelco's "selfless and transcendental labor," highlighting the corporation's crucial role in Chile's development and state financing. Minister Mas added that this capital injection must be accompanied by Codelco's own efforts, including financial discipline, transparency, efficient spending, and rigorous investment prioritization.

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Our objective is to provide real equity capacity to safeguard the risk classification, maintain liquidity indicators, and fundamentally prevent the response to major production challenges from being to continue increasing the company's debt.

Codelco President Bernardo Fontaine thanked the executive branch for accepting the board's proposal. He acknowledged the company's "complex moment" and "weak results" but asserted that "great organizations like ours demonstrate their character and capacity to transform and improve" during difficult times. The company is set to define its strategic plan in the coming months, evaluating its management and future development, including operational structure and costs. While the board has considered asset sales and other financing alternatives, both Fontaine and government officials have ruled out privatizing the state-owned giant.

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Our results are weak, there would be no point in denying it, but precisely in difficult times is when great organizations like ours demonstrate their character and capacity to transform and improve.