Johannesburg - Gold Fields, the South African producer of the metal with mines from Peru to Australia, swung to a second-quarter profit after cutting costs 10 percent.
Headline earnings were $19 million in the three months ended June 30, compared with a loss of $14 million in the previous quarter, the Johannesburg-based company said Thursday in a statement.
All-in sustaining costs fell 10 percent to $1 029 an ounce, helped by weakness in the Australian dollar and South African rand, it said.
Gold Fields made two consecutive quarterly losses before the most recent quarter as output fell at its South Deep mine in South Africa as the gold price also dropped. The precious metal has fallen 3.8 percent this year.
“While the fall in the gold price in recent weeks is of deep concern, we do not believe that Gold Fields needs to make structural changes to our business at this juncture,” CEO Nick Holland said in the statement.
Production rose 6.7 percent to 535 000 ounces compared with the previous quarter, boosted by the company’s Australian operations. Gold Fields will pay an interim dividend of 0.04 rand a share, it said.
The company maintained its full-year guidance of about 2.2 million ounces at a cost of $1 055 an ounce to $1 075 an ounce.
Production at South Deep will be 8.5 percent lower at 6 500 kilograms, offset by higher output at the company’s mines in Ghana and Australia.
BLOOMBERG