Vancouver – Despite witnessing a quarterly shortfall, South Africa’s second largest gold miner saw year-over-year profits more than triple in the latest quarter ended Sept. 30, 2002.
Gold Fields (GFI-N) tallied net earnings of US$71 million, or $0.15 per share, compared to US$80 million, or $0.17 per share, for the previous quarter.
“For the September quarter Gold Fields delivered another robust operational performance with all operations delivering to expectation and keeping a tight lid on costs,” says Gold Fields Chief Executive officer, Ian Cockerill.
Year-on-year, profits boomed due to increased production and higher gold prices. But, on a quarterly basis, a stronger rand, foreign currency losses and modest drops in production at the company’s Beatrix and Driefontein operations hit earnings.
Gold production came in at 1.13 million oz for the quarter, down from the 1.16 million oz reported in the previous quarter. Production at Gold Fields’ flagship mine, dropped 7% to 330,000 oz, while its Beatrix operation in the Free State reported a 9% drop to 157,000 oz. Despite the quarterly decline, year over year production was up 28%.
Revenue for the quarter jumped 4% to US$382 million due to an increase in gold sold from 1.19 million oz in the June quarter to 1.22 million oz in the latest quarter.
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