News: AKE UPDATE 1-Allkem's first-half profit jumps nearly eleven-fold on soaring prices

(Updates with details on results, context)

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Australian lithium miner Allkem Ltd (AKE) reported a nearly eleven-fold jump in its first-half profit on Friday, boosted by sky-rocketing prices for the battery metal as demand surges amid a global push towards greener sources of energy.

Lithium, a key ingredient in electric vehicles, prices have soared on rising demand from automakers amid increased calls for decarbonisation and a shift towards greener sources of energy, significantly boosting Allkem's bottom-line.

With customer demand in the spodumene concentrate market "robust", it expects realised prices in March-quarter to be 5% higher sequentially.

Allkem recorded a net profit attributable of $180.4 million for the half-year ended Dec. 31, compared with $16.6 million reported a year earlier, boosted by record production at its flagship Olaroz facility in Argentina and strong prices.

Earlier, however, the Argentina-headquartered lithium miner cut its annual output outlook for top profit-generating project, Mt Cattlin in Western Australia, to between 114 thousand tonnes (kt) and 124 kt of spodumene concentrate, significantly down from 193.56 kt logged in fiscal 2022.