explanation16 Feb 2012 15:48
Anglo-Tanzanian miner African Barrick Gold PLC (ABG.LN) Thursday reported a 33% drop in fourth quarter net profit compared with the same quarter a year ago as lower gold production levels more than offset a higher achieved gold sale price.
But for the full year 2011, net profit attributable to shareholders still rose 26% to $274.9 million, prompting the company to propose a final dividend of 13.1 U.S. cents a share, which boosted the 2011 total dividend three-fold to 16.3 cents a share, up from 5.3 cents a share in 2010.
The U.K.-listed company said it may be able to produce more gold in 2012 than in 2011 and said cash costs will continue to escalate.
African Barrick Gold expects to produce 675,000-725,000 troy ounces of attributable gold in 2012 at an attributable cash cost of $790 to $860 an ounce. This compares with 688,278 ounces of gold produced in 2011 at an attributable cash cost of $692 an ounce.
The U.K.-listed miner reported fourth quarter net profit attributable to shareholders of $52.7 million for the three months ending Dec. 31 compared with the same quarter a year ago.
Sales dropped 8% on the year to $285 million, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, a keenly-watched company earnings metric, fell 14% to $115 million