A 28 per cent rise in realised gold prices during the period helped Tanzanian gold miner African Barrick Gold deliver solid full-year earnings growth. Nevertheless, production fell short of full-year guidance as power outages took their toll.
Gold production reached 688,278 ounces - down 2 per cent on last year, and well below the 730,000 ounce mid-range guidance given at the third quarter stage. The slippage was particularly noticeable during the final quarter, when processed tonnage and gold output fell by 15 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively, on the previous year. Problems at Tanzania’s National Power Grid were felt particularly acutely at the group's open-cut Buzwagi mine. Though gold production there ticked-up 6 per cent to 196,541 ounces, it was still 35,000 ounces short of management’s full-year expectations. A back-up power system has subsequently been installed at the mine.
The miner’s cash costs rose 22 per cent to $692 an ounce, too. These are anticipated to rise to between $790 and $860 in the current year - partly due to falling grades at Buzwagi, which will also restrict overall gold production to 675,000-725,000 ounces.
Prior to these figures broker Edison anticipated 2012 EPS of 68¢ (2011: 68.5¢).
| AFRICAN BARRICK GOLD (ABG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 493p | MARKET VALUE: | £2.0bn | |
| TOUCH: | 493-494p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 624p | LOW: 383p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.1% | PE RATIO: | 12 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 673¢ | NET CASH: | $584m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($bn) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 0.48 | 54.0 | na | nil |
| 2008 | 0.54 | -157 | na | nil |
| 2009 | 0.71 | 150 | 14.3 | nil |
| 2010 | 0.98 | 309 | 53.2 | 5.30 |
| 2011 | 1.22 | 403 | 67.0 | 16.3 |
| % change | +25 | +30 | +26 | +208 |
Ex-div: 2 May Payment: 25 May £1=$1.57 | ||||
