Feb 12 (Reuters) - Australian diversified miner South32 ( SHTLF ) ​reported a ‌16% rise in ⁠its first-half ⁠profit on ‌Thursday, ‌boosted by higher ​commodity prices.

South32 ( SHTLF ), ‌the world's biggest producer ​of ​manganese, ‌said its underlying earnings attributable was $435 ⁠million for ⁠the half-year ended December 31, compared ⁠with $375 ‌million a ‌year earlier.

That ⁠beat the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of $386.6 million.

(Reporting by ​Sherin Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing ​by ‌Krishna Chandra ​Eluri)