Anglo Platinum, the world's top producer of platinum, said on Thursday full-year profit likely rose as much as seven-fold, helped by higher metal prices.

Angloplat, majority-owned by global miner Anglo American, said it expects headline earnings per share to total as much as 1,965 cents in the year to end-December, compared with 289 cents a year earlier.

Headline EPS, the main profit gauge in South Africa, excludes certain one-time and non-trading items.

Shares of Angloplat gained 3.3 percent to 746 rand by 1335 GMT, outperforming Johannesburg's Top-40 index of blue chips, which was slightly higher.

AngloPlat said the results were boosted by a higher platinum prices. The precious metal gained about 20 percent in 2010. Platinum on Thursday hit its highest since July 2008.

South Africa South Africa Anglo american plc South Africa