LONDON (Reuters) - London-listed Kazakh miner Kazakhmys (>> Kazakhmys plc) posted a more than 30 percent drop in 2012 core profit, excluding the impact of its share in rival ENRC (>> Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation), as weak prices hit revenue and failed to offset rising costs.

The miner, which owns 26 percent of rival ENRC, also said on Thursday it might have to write down the value of that stake, after a sharp drop in ENRC shares over 2012.

The copper miner said it had appointed former London Metal Exchange boss Simon Heale as chairman and Andrew Southam as chief financial officer, replacing Matthew Hird who steps down in May after six years. A new chairman had been expected after Vladimir Kim said in May he planned to step down.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at $1.36 billion (896 million pounds) against $1.96 billion a year ago, excluding the contribution from Kazakhmys's stake in rival FTSE-100 miner ENRC which will be published next month.

That compared with an estimate of $1.08 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Kazakhmys was due to report full earnings, including ENRC, on March 26.

(Reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques; Editing by Dan Lalor)

Stocks treated in this article : Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, Kazakhmys plc