Centamin announces first ever dividend as earnings decline
EGYPT-FOCUSED gold miner Centamin yesterday announced its first dividend of 0.87 cents per share, as it unveiled weaker-than-expected second-quarter results.
The FTSE 250 firm said earnings had halved to $32.6m (£19.5m) in the second quarter compared to the same period the previous year, as it mined lower grade ore at its flagship Sukari mine in Egypt.
Investec said the results were weaker than they had forecast.
Centamin produced 81,281 ounces of gold in the second quarter, which was 13 per cent lower year-on-year but nine per cent higher quarter-on-quarter.
It maintained its full-year guidance of 420,000 ounces at $700 per ounce cash cost of production.
But an appeal case over permits to mine gold in Egypt continues to overshadow the company.
Andy Davidson, Centamin’s head of investor relations, told Reuters that the next hearing in the court process would be in October.
“That won’t be the final hearing,” he said. “That court case… is likely to go into next year before we get a resolution.”