Centamin ups dividend as gold price sends profit soaring

Pretax profit for the six months to the end of June jumped to $191.1m (£146m) from $59.6m a year earlier as revenue rose 56% to $448.8m. The gold miner increased its interim dividend to 6 cents a share.

Centamin average realised gold price increased 27% to $1,657 an ounce as investors bought the traditional haven asset during the Covid-19 crisis.

The amount of gold produced rose 9% to 256,084 ounces and gold sold rose 21% to 270,529 ounces. Costs rose 3% to $164.3m.

Chief Executive Martin Horgan said: "Over the first half of 2020, Centamin has successfully navigated the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic to deliver a strong operating and financial performance. This operational delivery has enabled us to benefit from the recent strength in the gold price."

The FTSE 250 company, which operates the Sukari mine in Egypt, said it was on track to achieve its annual production guidance of 510,000-525,000 ounces of gold and for costs of $630-680 per ounce produced.

Centamin shares fell 1.9% to 203.6p at 08:33 BST. The shares have gained about 60% in 2020.