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(Alliance News) - Endeavour Mining PLC on Thursday said third quarter profit fell, despite revenue rising, as gain on financial instruments plunged substantially.
In the three months that ended September 30, the gold miner with assets in nations including Senegal and Burkina Faso said pretax profit fell 19% to USD128.7 million from USD159.4 million a year earlier.
This was despite revenue increasing 14% to USD533.0 million from USD466.7 million, as operating expenses rose 17% to USD205.3 million from USD175.7 million and gain on financial instruments plunged 88% to USD7.2 million from USD61.8 million.
Gold production picked up 4.9% to 281,000 ounces from 268,000 in the second quarter and was steady from 281,000 a year earlier, while gold sold also rose 3.3% to 278,000 ounces from 269,000 in the second quarter and marginally picking up from 277,000 a year earlier.
Endeavour Mining also noted that it bought back 1.0 million shares worth USD20 million in the third quarter, half of what it has bought back in the year to date. Since the share buyback programme began in April 2021, the company said has bought back 12.4 million shares worth USD277.0 million since September 30.
"On the operational front, in light of the efforts made over the first half of the year, our third quarter saw the strongest performance so far this year, and we expect Q4 performance to be even stronger, which positions us well to meet full-year production guidance for the eleventh consecutive year and maintain our status as one of the lowest cost gold producers in the sector," said Chief Executive Officer Sebastien de Montessus.
"Looking ahead, we expect 2024 to be a strong year for Endeavour, as the brownfield expansion of Sabodala-Massawa and the Lafigue development project both remain on budget and on track to be commissioned next year...We are very excited by our exploration program, which continues to provide a strong platform for organic growth. Further drilling at our recent Tanda-Iguela discovery in [Ivory Coast] has exceeded expectations, extending the mineralised trend by 50% and delineating several potential satellite deposits. We are continuing to advance this year's 180,000 meter drill campaign and look forward to publishing an updated resource estimate later this year."
Shares in Endeavour Mining were down 3.7% to 1,623.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News senior reporter
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