(Bloomberg) — Aquarius Platinum Ltd., which mines platinum and palladium in South Africa and Zimbabwe, said first- quarter profit increased more than fourfold after production rose to a record and metal prices climbed.Net income rose to $45 million, or 54.4 cents a share, in the three months to September 30, from $9.8 million, or 11.9 cents, a year earlier, the Hamilton, Bermuda-based company said. Sales nearly doubled to $158.3 million.

Chief executive officer Stuart Murray increased production at three mines in South Africa and a fourth in neighbouring Zimbabwe, the world's two-largest sources of platinum. He's now drilling for more deposits in the north of South Africa to help plug a supply deficit that's persisted for seven consecutive years.

Shares in Aquarius rose 2 pence, or 0.2 percent, to 961.5 pence at 9:31 a.m. in London, for a market value of 806.6 million pounds ($1.5 billion). The stock more than doubled this year, outpacing larger rival Lonmin Plc, which gained 80 percent.

First-quarter production of platinum group metals, which include palladium and rhodium, jumped 35 percent to 140,227 ounces, Aquarius said.

Platinum and palladium are used to make jewellery, while each of the platinum group metals is the main ingredient in autocatalysts, used to reduce pollution from cars.

Profit at Aquarius, like that of other mining companies in South Africa that pay most costs in rand and sell their metal for dollars, was boosted by the local currency's 16 percent decline against the dollar this year.