23rd Mar 2015 07:54
LONDON (Alliance News) - Centamin PLC on Monday reported a sharp drop in pretax profit for 2014 as the falling gold price offset a rise in production, but the Egypt-focused gold miner still declared a dividend for the year.
Centamin said its pretax profit for the year was USD81.6 million, less than half the USD184 million it posted a year earlier. Revenue dropped to USD472.6 million from USD503.8 million.
The company said its gold production increased in the year to 377,261 ounces, up from 356,943 ounces a year earlier, while gold sold in the year increased to 375,300 ounces from 363,576 ounces. But the average realised gold price for Centamin fell to USD1,257 per ounce from USD1,384 per ounce in 2013.
Its gold production guidance for 2015 is 420,000 ounces, set to be driven higher in the second half of the year on expectations for an increase to the reserve average in the second half from the Sukari project in Egypt.
Centamin is proposing a final dividend of 1.99 US cents per share, giving it a total payout of 2.86 cents per share for the year. Centamin paid no dividend in 2013.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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