DRD Gold interim earnings fall

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE-listed DRDGold expects to report a significant fall in earnings for the six months to December 31.

Earnings a share are expected to be between 0.17c and 1.03c – a 76% to 96% decrease on the 4.3c a share posted in the six months to December 2015.

DRDGold also expects to report a headline loss a share of between 2.66c and 2.14c, compared with the headline earnings a share of 2.6c posted in the prior comparable period.

“The final clean-up and closure of specific Crown sites continued to weigh on costs, causing both accelerated depreciation and retrenchment costs of R18-million each,” DRDGold said in a statement.

Operating costs increased by 9% to R82/t.

After paying a final dividend of R52-million for the year ended June 30, 2016, the company ended the second quarter of the 2017 financial year with R290-million in cash and cash equivalents, compared with R335-million at the end of the first quarter of 2017.

The cash position was also influenced by an increase in working capital of R70.5-million for the six months under review.

Gold production for the three months to December 31, reached 1 066 kg, while volume throughput amounted to six-million tons.

Gold production for the year ending June 30, 2017, is expected to be between 136 000 oz and 140 000 oz, at a cash operating cost of between R468 000/kg and R482 000/kg.