* Profit up 13%, tamped down by lower output and grades

* Harmony declares record interim dividend

* Copper output impacted by shaft upgrade, safety

stoppage

(Adds details on gold output, copper forecast in paragraphs

6-11)

March 11 (Reuters) - South Africa's Harmony Gold

on Wednesday said its half-year profit rose 13% as

higher bullion prices offset the impact of lower output and

grades, allowing the miner to more than double its dividend.

Harmony's headline earnings per share - a profit measure -

came in at 14.31 rand ($0.8827) in the six months to December

31, from 12.70 rand previously.

The biggest gold producer in South Africa declared an

interim dividend of 5.30 rand per share, up from 2.27 rand

previously, making a record payment of 3.38 billion rand.

The price of gold soared by about 60% in 2025, driven

by geopolitical and economic uncertainty, expectations of U.S.

interest rate cuts, and increased purchases by central banks

amid a global de-dollarisation trend.

This year has seen further momentum, with gold prices

gaining almost 30% to a record high near $5,600 an ounce at the

end of January.

Harmony's gold production fell 9% to 724,099 ounces,

reflecting earthquake-related disruptions at Hidden Valley in

Papua New Guinea and a sodium cyanide shortage in South Africa

during the second quarter.

The company has forecast copper output of 17,500 to 18,500

metric tons from its newly acquired CSA mine in Australia in the

current financial year, which ends in June.

CEO Beyers Nel said the lower annualised production rate of

about 28,000 metric tons, compared with the mine's historical

40,000 tons, was mainly due to safety stoppages and shaft

rehabilitation.

Harmony acquired the CSA mine in October 2025, expanding its

copper portfolio which also includes the Eva copper project in

Australia, and the Wafi-Golpu project in Papua New Guinea,

jointly owned with Newmont ( NEM ).

The company aims to reach 100,000 metric tons of annual

copper production within the next three years.

Harmony has diversified into copper - a metal critical to

electric vehicles and power grid infrastructure - to take

advantage of growing demand for the metal amid a global shift to

cleaner energy.

($1 = 16.2118 rand)