LONDON (Alliance News) - Anglo Asian Mining PLC on Wednesday said it swung to profit in the first half of 2018 as revenue rose on higher gold bullion sales and price.
Shares in Anglo Asian Mining were trading 8.7% higher on Wednesday morning at 58.70 pence each.
The investment company said it swung to a pretax profit of USD8.1 million in the six months to the end of June from USD1.3 million loss reported for the same period a year earlier, as revenue rose by half to USD40.0 million from USD29.8 million.
The company declared a maiden dividend of 3.00 US cents per share.
Anglo Asian Mining said its production continued to improve during the period reaching 37,349 gold equivalent ounces, up from 30,561 ounces produced in the first half of 2017.
The result was boosted by the new Ugur open-pit mine and the successful implementation of operational initiatives at the existing Gedabek open-pit and Gadir underground mines, both in Azerbaijan.
Meanwhile copper production totalled 587 tonnes, down from 1,322 tonnes a year prior. Silver production was also slightly lower year-on-year at 84,785 ounces compared to 85,087 ounces.
Looking forward, the company said it maintained its target production for the 12 months to the end of 2018 at between 78,000 and 84,000 gold equivalent ounces. In 2017, Anglo Asian Mining produced 71,461 gold equivalent ounces.
Gold bullion sales improved to 25,778 ounces at an average price of USD1,319 per ounce versus 15,689 ounces sold the year before at USD1,238 per ounce.
Copper concentrate shipments to the customer totalled to 2,344 dry metric tonnes with a sales value of USD5.9 million, down from 5,396 dry metric tonnes shipped the year ago with a sales value of USD10.3 million.
"It is with continued optimism that I look forward to the rest of 2018 and beyond and the declaration of our maiden dividend demonstrates the Board's confidence in the future," said Executive Chairman Khosrow Zamani.
Anglo Asian (AAZ)