Petropavlovsk (POG) no longer employs the men whose Russified forenames adorn the door to the plc's headquarters. Last year’s boardroom coup (and subsequent shake-up) saw to that. Yet the founders’ bequest doesn’t end there; as full-year results remind us, the precious metals miner is still heavily indebted, strapped with an awkward holding in a Hong Kong-listed iron ore miner, and (after everyone’s been paid) a low-margin miner.
In 2017, the latter trait was exacerbated by the appreciation of the rouble and $88m (£62m) of capital expenditure, which brought all-in sustaining costs to $963 an ounce. That was 19 per cent up on 2016, and would have had a more pronounced effect on the profit statement had production not climbed 10 per cent, and working capital significantly unwound.
Watching from the sidelines – and now providing a running commentary on every announcement from the gold miner – is Kenges Rakishev, who picked up at 22 per cent stake in the company at the end of the period. His reaction to these numbers? A dash of optimism, hopes for growth and a note of cynicism that the bottom line was artificially boosted by events outside the company’s control.
On average, analysts expect adjusted pre-tax profits of $100m and EPS of 1.9¢ in 2018, compared with estimates of $73m and 1.4¢ last year.
| PETROPAVLOVSK (POG) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 7p | MARKET VALUE: | £233m | |
| TOUCH: | 7-7.1p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 9p | LOW: 6.3p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | NIL | PE RATIO: | 8 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 17.3¢ | NET DEBT: | 101% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($bn) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
| 2013 | 1.20 | -523 | -259.0 | nil |
| 2014 | 0.86 | -14.3 | -94.0 | nil |
| 2015 | 0.60 | -142 | -7.0 | nil |
| 2016 | 0.55 | 27.0 | 1.0 | nil |
| 2017 | 0.59 | 60.5 | 1.3 | nil |
| % change | +7 | +124 | +26 | - |
| Ex-div: | na | |||
| Payment: | na | |||
| £1=$1.41 | ||||
