18th May 2020 08:56
(Alliance News) - Gold miner Centamin PLC on Monday said it delivered a strong financial performance in 2019, characterised by continued operational improvements at its flagship Sukari mine in Egypt.
The company's revenue came in at USD652.3 million in the calendar year, up 8% from USD603.2 million in 2018, and pretax profit increased 13% to USD173.0 million from USD152.7 million.
Annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation improved 10% to USD284.0 million.
Gold production rose 2% to 480,528 ounces in 2019 from 472,418 ounces in 2018, but the amount of gold the company sold fell 3% to 470,020 ounces from 484,322 ounces.
The company said operations at its Sukari mine have continued to be uninterrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, with sufficient resources and supplies until the third quarter of 2020, during which it is expected global travel restrictions may begin to ease.
Should such restrictions be extended well into second half of 2020, it is possible that Sukari operations may be affected, the FTSE 2250-listed company added.
Centamin maintained its production guidance of between 510,000 and 540,000 ounces of gold in 2020. Capital expenditure estimated for the year, however, has been cut to between USD150 million and USD70 million from USD190 million previously, due to deferral of non-essential expenditure amid the virus outbreak.
Chief Financial Officer Ross Jerrard said: "We have made a good start to 2020 with production and costs on track. The global uncertainty around the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has created significant volatility in the global investment markets, resulting in increased safe-haven investing. Our clean balance sheet, with no debt nor hedging, offers pure exposure to the gold price and our long cash position of USD379 million underpins the financial strength of the business and self-funds current growth investment."
Shares in the company were up 4.9% at 185.14 pence each in London on Monday morning.
By Tapan Panchal; [email protected]
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