Pan African Resources flags strong rise in earnings

Pan African Resources reported a substantial increase in headline earnings per share and earnings per share in its first half on Friday, to between 2.14 and 2.3 cents per share, up from 1.52 cents per share for the same period in 2022.

The AIM-traded firm noted that would represent an increase of between 41% and 51% year-on-year for the six months ended 31 December.

It attributed the notable improvements in earnings to a 23.9% surge in revenue to $193.9m, compared to $156.5m in 2022.

The increase was primarily due to higher gold sales volumes, which rose 8.9% to 98,458 ounces, while the average dollar-denominated gold price received during the reporting period increased 13.7% to $1,961 per ounce, up from $1,725 per ounce a year earlier.

Pan African said it released its trading update under the JSE listing requirements, which compel companies to issue a statement when there was a reasonable degree of certainty that its financial results would differ by at least 20% year-on-year.

The company added that it operates with the US dollar as its presentation currency, and the South African rand as its functional currency.

That meant that fluctuations in the USD-ZAR exchange rate significantly impacted its reported results.

During the reporting period, the average USD-ZAR exchange rate was ZAR 18.69 to the dollar, compared to 17.33 in 2022.

The closing exchange rate on 31 December was ZAR 18.30, compared to ZAR 17.01 in the prior year period.

At 1154 GMT, shares in Pan African Resources were up 3.79% at 18.6p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.