Randgold tops FTSE 100 risers on record profit
GOLD miner Randgold Resources yesterday posted record production and profits for last year, despite a tough time at some of its African operations.
The FTSE 100 miner logged profits of $511m (£325m) over the year, up 16 per cent. Production was up 14 per cent, at 794,844 ounces of gold.
Quarter on quarter, profit in the three months to September was up 18 per cent and production rose by five per cent.
On the back of soaring profits, Randgold – which has operations in Mali, the Congo and the Ivory Coast in Africa – has proposed a 25 per cent hike in the annual dividend to $0.50.
On an operational level, its flagship Loulo-Gounkoto complex in Mali exceeded its output target for the year, producing more than 500,000 ounces of gold, on the back of development of the Yalea and Gara underground mines.
Gold output at Randgold’s Tongon mine in the Ivory Coast inched down from 250,390 ounces in 2011 to 210,615 ounces last year.
Randgold blamed frequent outages in the grid power supply – leading to plant stoppages – for the fall in production.
“It’s been a particularly eventful year but the team once again rose to the challenges,” chief executive Mark Bristow said yesterday.
“Not only did we achieve very creditable results for 2012 but we start 2013 in good shape and with a renewed focus on growing our production and managing our costs.”
Bristow reiterated Randgold’s annual production target of 1.2m ounces of gold by 2015. This year, he said the company was focussed on pouring the first gold at its Kibali mine, getting Tongon back on target and maintain the strong performance at Loulo and Morila.
Randgold was the biggest blue chip riser yesterday.