Feb 15 (Reuters) - Australia's top gold miner Newcrest Mining Ltd NCM.AX , on Thursday reported a 58 percent fall in half-year underlying profit, held back by disruptions in production and an uptick in costs.
Underlying profit slid to $116 million from $273 million for the six months to Dec. 31, below a forecast of $143 million based on the average of three estimates from a poll of analysts.
Newcrest announced an interim dividend of 7.5 cents per share, the same as last year.