Centamin more than doubles profit in first quarter

Pre-tax profit for the three months to the end of March rose 122% to $65.4m (£48m) from a year earlier as revenue increased 23% to $172.5m.

The FTSE 250 company sold 131,045 ounces of gold at an average price of $1,328 an ounce compared with 115,052 ounces at $1,220 an ounce a year earlier.

First-quarter performance was weaker than the final quarter of 2017 when Centamin sold 153,490 ounces of gold. Revenue in the first quarter was 9% lower than in the previous quarter.

The company stuck to its production forecast for 2018 of 580,000 ounces at a cost of $555 per ounce despite disappointing results at its Sukari mine in Egypt. Centamin said in April that production at Sukari fell 19% from the previous quarter because of lower grades from open pit mining.

Updating investors on its plans, Centamin said it expected a “stronger production profile” in the second half of 2018. It predicted higher productivity rates and speedier access to its stage 4A primary ore in the third quarter.

Chief executive Andrew Pardey said the first quarter was a solid foundation to build on but acknowledged that results were weaker than expected.

“Despite lower than expected grades mined from the open pit impacting production, improved productivity, higher recoveries, stringent cost control and a strengthening gold price all were marked contributions to the quarterly performance,” he said.

Centamin shares fell 1.7% to 152.65p at 08:30 BST.