MINING group Anglo American has unveiled surging first-half profits, with its operating result up 71% to $1.6bn, and attributed the strong performance to buoyant commodity markets. The group, which listed on the London Stock Exchange last year, said pretax profit was also up more than 70% to $2.08bn. Sales rose 5.5% to $10.31bn. South African-listed shares of the group climbed by two percent on Friday, hoisted by strong first-half results that beat market forecasts. Anglo reported headline earnings of $951m for the six months ended on June 30, above even some of the most optimistic market forecasts, and declared a 43% rise in the interim dividend to 60 cents per share.