19th Oct 2023 09:23
(Alliance News) - Centamin PLC on Thursday said profit and revenue decreased in its latest quarter as gold production fell by over 20%, but reaffirmed its full-year guidance regardless.
The Jersey-based gold producer, which has interests in Egypt, Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast, said pretax profit for the third quarter of 2023 was USD56.5 million, down 6.8% from USD60.7 million the previous year.
Centamin said revenue decreased 8.1% to USD200.4 million from USD218.1 million. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation decreased 1.6% to USD99.0 million from USD100.6 million.
Capital expenditure, however, decreased 21% to USD59.1 million from USD74.9 million. Centamin said this reflected savings from lower fuel costs, and optimisation of its open pit fleet maintenance strategy. This was in line with the new life of mine plan for its flagship asset, the Sukari gold mine in southern Egypt, which Centamin announced last week.
Also on Thursday, Centamin said gold production fell 21% to 101,370 ounces from 127,512 the year before, at least partly due to "pre-emptive" repairs on a Sukari mill. The company sold 103,807 ounces of gold in total, down 18% from 126,610. The average realised price of gold had decreased to USD1,927 per ounce from USD1,933.
Centamin said its balance sheet remains strong and flexible, with USD126 million in available cash and liquid assets at September 30.
Despite the drop in production, Centamin maintained its 2023 guidance range of 450,000 to 480,000 ounces, albeit saying it expects to achieve the lower end. Chief Executive Officer Martin Horgan attributed this to Centamin's "operational flexibility". The firm also maintained its capital expenditure guidance of USD273 million.
"Today's results reflect another period of disciplined cost management, putting us on target for the lower half of our 2023 cost guidance range," Horgan commented. "Our financial strength and the savings made against our 2023 budget have also given us the flexibility to accelerate some key 2024 capital expenditures into 2023 without impacting guidance."
Centamin shares were down 2.% at 83.56 pence in London on Thursday morning.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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