Tweedy Browne Comments on Antofagasta

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Jan 29, 2014

Portfolio activity was once again modest duri ng the quarter. Only one new position was established: Antofagasta (LSE:ANTO), a UK-listed Chilean coppe r mining company. The company owns majority interests in five copper mines in Chile and a railw ay, and we believe is a we ll run, low cost copper producer with a strong balance shee t. The company is profitable, gene rates free cash flow, and pays a dividend. While it is difficult to predict the direction of copper pr ices with any degree of certainty, declining ore grades and mine clos ures across the world should have a meaningful effect on supply over the next several years, resulting in better pricing in the future. At purchase, Antofagasta was trading at approximately 6.2 times enterprise value to EBIT (ear nings before interest and taxes), which was near its 52-week low, was in a net cash positi on and paid a dividend yield of 1.6% . We also added to a number of pre-existing positions in our Funds, including DB S Group, GlaxoSmithKline, HSBC, TNT Express, and G4S.

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From Tweedy Browne (Trades, Portfolio)'s fourth quarter 2013 commentary.