Miner Randgold’s profit takes a tumble as gold loses its glitter amid price falls
Randgold Resources yesterday said its pre-tax profit fell in the first half of 2015 due to lower gold prices and higher costs.
However, the miner said its results stood strong against a sector “buckling under the pressure of the gold price downturn”.
The FTSE 100-listed gold miner reported a pre-tax profit of $72m (£46.4m) in the second quarter of 2015, falling from a $92.1m profit a year earlier. Revenue dropped to $285m from $294.9m.
The company said revenue would have actually risen to $296.7m in the first half if it had sold the $11.7m worth of gold dore available at the end of the first half.
And production rose by seven per cent on the previous quarter, reaching the 300,000 ounce mark for the first time.
Chief executive Mark Bristow said: “In the 20 years of Randgold’s existence, we have made no material changes to our core strategy, but the refinements we introduced when we saw the downturn coming, and the fact that our business models were prudently based on $1,000 per ounce, are enabling us actively to manage the weakening gold price.”
Randgold’s shares closed up 0.81 per cent at 3,864p.