Centamin profits halved on lower revenue; Holds production guidance

Gold miner Centamin said full-year profits halved on the back of forecast lower revenue and an impairment on assets in Burkina Faso.

The company, which owns the massive Sukari gold mine in Egypt, said pre-tax profits came in at $153.6m last year, down from $315m in 2020. Revenue fell 12% to $733m.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation fell 25% to $328.6m. Centamin said production fell 8% and a reported a 19% increase in all-in sustaining costs an ounce. It also recorded a $35.2 million impairment of exploration and evaluation related to assets in Burkina Faso

The group declared a final dividend of 5 cents a share, bringing the total to 9 cents.

For 2022, Centamin reaffirmed gold production guidance of between 430,000 and 460,000 ounces at an all-in sustaining costs of $1,275-$1,425 an ounce sold, and capital expenditure of $225.5m.

“We remain focused on the generation of free cash flow as this is ultimately the metric that matters. We have budgeted for rising costs in 2022, driven by higher consumer price inflation within our operating countries, supply chain pressures on fuel, consumables and shipping costs and tighter labour markets,” the company said.

“We have prudently decided not to budget any offsetting impacts of our ongoing cost-savings and improving operating efficiencies and productivity gains until we have a better sense of the longer-term inflationary environment.”