30th Sep 2019 12:25
(Alliance News) - Goldplat PLC said Monday it swung to a pretax loss in its recently ended financial year, as revenue on lower gold sales and a poor production performance from the Kilimapesa mine in Kenya.
Also, the AIM-listed gold producer promoted Chief Financial Officer Werner Klingenberg to chief executive officer on a permanent basis.
He was appointed as CEO on an interim basis in late April following the departure of Gerard Kisbey-Green. Klinenberg has been Goldplat's finance chief for two years since 2017, and has been part of the company for four years since 2015.
"Werner has been with Goldplat in various roles since 2015 and has an extensive and dispassionate understanding of the group. As a board we strongly believe Werner has all the attributes and more to drive the strategy that will create a new growth path for Goldplat," said Chair Matthew Robinson.
For the financial year to the end of June, Goldplat reported a loss from continuing operations of GBP1.7 million, compared to a profit of GBP506,000 the year before. This was on revenue that declined by 26% to GBP24.8 million from GBP33.8 million the year before.
The revenue decline was due to weaker performances in its recovery operations in South Africa and Ghana, while a continuous drop in production from the Kilimapesa gold mine led to it being put under care and maintenance from the start of June.
This was forced by the mine running out of ground to mine, due to little underground flat development because of the mine's poor cash position.
Not helping, the average price of gold over the year was USD1,263 per ounce, down from USD1,293 the prior year, Goldplat said.
Looking ahead, Goldplat said it will begin to look for other locations to grow its recovery business, amid a declining gold industry in South Africa and to a lesser extent in Ghana. For Kilimapesa, Goldplat is looking for a primary investment partner to work with on the mine.
Shares in Goldplat were down 5.3% at 3.60 pence on Monday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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