* Gold miner Newcrest first-half underlying profit drops
* Says not relying on gold price rally to lift fortunes (Adds managing director quotes, details, stock price)
By James Regan
SYDNEY, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Newcrest Mining Ltd NCM.AX on Monday blamed lower gold and copper prices for a 65 percent fall in first-half underlying profit and said it was not counting on higher future prices to lift profits in 2016.
Underlying profit fell to $63 million in the fiscal first half versus $180 million a year ago following a 6 percent drop in gold revenue for Australia's top gold producer.
"We're certainly not planning on a breakout in the gold price," Managing Director Sandeep Biswas told reporters in a conference call. "Our key focus is to improve our margins by improving productivity and getting our costs down."
Net profit for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2015, fell to $81 million from $180 million a year earlier, the company reported.
Gold fell for a second straight session on Monday after hitting its highest in a year last week, as fears over the global economy eased and stock markets rebounded. GOL/
Newcrest, which mines gold in Papua New Guinea, Australia, Africa and Indonesia, in the last half year switched to reporting in U.S. dollars from Australian dollars and provided the pro forma conversion.
Over the first half, Newcrest sold its gold for an average $1,113 an ounce, $125 less than the year ago period. Copper sales over the period were off by 79 cents a pound, the company said.
Like most gold miners, Newcrest in 2016 is expected to benefit from a rise in the price of bullion, which stood at $1,221.51 an ounce on Monday after last week posting its strongest rally in more than seven years.
Newcrest shares have rallied by 26 percent since the beginning of January, underperforming a 28 percent gain in the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index .AXGD index tracking Australian gold producers.
The stock was trading nearly unchanged from Friday at around $16.31 a share on Monday.
Biswas said Newcrest lowered its costs by 5 percent during the first six months of the fiscal year. Copper production fell 23 percent to 38,918 tonnes. Gold output rose 6 percent to 1.204 million ounces.
The company maintained its forecast for full-year gold production of between 2.4-2.6 million ounces and copper output of 80,000-90,000 tonnes.
Copper prices, though, remain under pressure from waning demand among big consuming countries, such as China.
The London Metal Exchange three-month copper contract CMCU3 on Friday saw its biggest weekly drop in a month. MET/L