25th Feb 2019 09:36
LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in Centamin PLC fell early Monday as the gold miner reported a drop in annual earnings on a 13% fall in production.
Shares in the company were down 14% at 115.10 pence each in early trade.
Centamin at the start of January reported gold production of 472,418 ounces for 2018, down from 544,658 a year before, driven by lower than expected grades from both open pit and underground operations.
Gold sales for the year fell to 484,322 ounces from 539,726.
All-in sustaining costs for 2018 were largely maintained year-on-year at USD420.1 million. Unit cash cost increased 13% year-on-year to USD624 per ounce produced.
For 2019, AISC is expected between USD890 and USD950 per ounce sold and cash cost of production between USD675 to USD725 per ounce produced.
The UK listed company, which operates the Sukari gold mine in Egypt, recorded a pretax profit of USD152.7 million for 2018, down from USD207.4 million in the year-ago period.
Revenue was USD603.2 million from USD675.5 million, respectively.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation totalled USD257.9 million for the year versus USD309.2 million a year ago.
Centamin has declared a final dividend of 3.0 cents per share, giving a total payout of 5.5 cents, down from 12.5 cents paid a year ago.
The company expects to produce 490,000 to 520,000 gold ounces in 2019, with increased stripping in the open pit balanced by estimated higher average grades. Capital expenditure is estimated at USD118 million.
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Centamin PLC