* EBITDA surges to $1.96 bln, revenue up 57 pct to $3.17 bln
* Plant at new Esperanza mine commissioned
* Shares up 0.2 pct, underperforms sector on disappointment
(Adds shares, analyst comment, more details)
By Eric Onstad
LONDON, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Chilean copper producer Antofagasta reported a surge in nine-month profit on the back of higher output and buoyant metals prices, but this fell short of some investors' expectations.
The London-listed group also said on Thursday it had launched operations at its new Esperanza mine, part of an expansion that is due to lift output by a third next year.
Nine-month earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) jumped 74 percent to $1.96 billion, but this was less than expected.
"It was a small miss, maybe 3-5 percent," said one analyst who declined to be named, referring to Antofagasta's EBITDA. He noted that losses from commodity derivatives had shaved $52.6 million from profits.
Antofagasta shares rose 0.2 percent to 1376 pence by 1120 GMT, underperforming a 1.3 percent gain in the British mining index.
The shares have gained 39 percent this year, outpeforming the sector index by 20 percent as investors anticipate higher output kicking in next year.
The firm's revenues climbed 57 percent to $3.17 billion.
NEW MINE GETS GOING
The company said it had commissioned the plant at its new Esperanza mine and the first copper concentrate shipment was due by the end of the year.
New output from Esperanza, together with an expansion at the company's flagship Los Pelambres mine, is due to boost annual copper output next year by about a third to 700,000 tonnes.
Strong nine-month profits were already anticipated after the firm reported earlier this month that copper output during the first nine months of the year climbed 20 percent to 393,600 tonnes.
Metals prices have shot up this year after a robust recovery from the global downturn. Antofagasta has sold its copper at an average of 330 cents per pound, up 32 percent.
The gains in output and prices are expected to flow through to annnual profits. Full-year earnings per share are expected to jump 74 percent to 119 cents from 68 cents last year, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S Estimates, based on forecasts from 24 analysts.
Costs have been a concern, however, and higher-than-expected third quarter costs overshadowed the rise in copper output when the firm released its third quarter production and cost report on Nov. 3.
In August, the company trimmed its annual production target to 530,000 tonnes and posted a near doubling in first-half earnings per share.
(Reporting by Eric Onstad. Editing by Jane Merriman)