Amara Mining (AMA) delivered a painful $50.1m (£30m) operating loss in 2013, while comparative revenues slumped - due to a 29 per cent reduction in gold ounces sold, together with a near one-fifth reduction in the average gold price. But last year's figures shouldn't detract from management's progress in transforming the West Africa-focused gold producer.
True, full-year earnings were hit by a $30.4m impairment charge relating to the company's Burkina Faso assets - these suffered a range of increased costs and gold price reduction-related issues. Moreover, production last year reached just 42,348 ounces of gold from the Kalsaka/Sega Gold Mine in Burkino Faso, compared to 53,544 ounces at the Kalsaka mine in the previous year - partly reflecting the fact that trucking from the Sega Gold project didn't begin until mid-way through 2013. Output is now expected in the range of 60,000-70,000 ounces for this year.
But Amara has delivered the preliminary economic assessment on its 6.3m ounce Yaoure Project in the Ivory Coast and has raised the funds to advance the pre-feasibility study. Total resources, including Baomahun in Sierra Leone, stand at 10.1m ounces, meaning that Amara has the largest base of any UK junior gold mining company.
| AMARA MINING (AMA) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 16.5p | MARKET VALUE: | £36.3m | |
| TOUCH: | 16.3-16.8p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 33p | LOW: 9p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 54¢* | NET DEBT: | 2% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 40 | -35.5 | -30.3 | nil |
| 2010 | 116 | -1 | -4.9 | nil |
| 2011 | 122 | 25.4 | 9.4 | nil |
| 2012 | 91.3 | 8.5 | -0.2 | nil |
| 2013 | 52.4 | -52 | -27.2 | nil |
| % change | -43 | - | - | - |
Ex-div: - Payment: - *Includes intangible assets of $110m, or 50¢ a share £1=$1.67 | ||||
