(Alliance News) - KAZ Minerals PLC on Thursday reported a rise in profit for 2020, as revenue grew on higher commodity prices in spite of lower production and sales volumes.
For the year, the London-based copper and gold producer posted a pretax profit of USD804 million, a 11% increase from USD726 million the year before, on revenue that grew 4.0% year-on-year to USD2.36 billion from USD2.27 billion.
Copper production for the year declined 1.8% to 305,700 tonnes, while gold output dropped 2.6% to 196,300 ounces, and silver production dipped 0.3% to 3.4 million ounces.
However, revenue growth was driven by a rise in commodity prices, with the average LME copper price increasing by 3% to USD6,198 per tonne from USD6,000 per tonne in 2019, while the average LBMA gold price rose 27% to USD1,770 per ounce from USD1,393 per ounce.
KAZ Minerals declared no final dividend for the year due to the recommended GBP3.7 billion offer by Nova Resources BV, secured in early February. This brings the total payout for the year to 4.0 US cents, down 67% from 12 cents paid the prior year.
Looking ahead, KAZ Minerals is guiding copper production for 2021 to be between 275,000 and 295,000 tonnes, reflecting a 3.5% to 10% drop from 2020.
Gold production is set to be between 160,000 ounces and 180,000 ounces, down 8.3% to 18% from 196,300 ounces, while silver production guidance is set at 2.8 million ounces, representing a 17% fall from 2020's figure.
"KAZ Minerals' operations proved resilient in 2020, despite the challenges posed by Covid-19. The group delivered strong production, which combined with improved commodity prices in the second half of the year, saw the group report earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of USD1.4 billion at a 61% margin," said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Southam.
Shares in KAZ Minerals were up 0.1% at 846.80 pence on Thursday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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