Perseus Mining
(ASX:PRU), an African-focused gold producer, celebrates a remarkable year ending June 30, as the company reports record revenue and earnings for the 12-month period, along with an increased dividend. The positive trend is expected to continue through the upcoming December half-year.
For the fiscal year, the group announced a net profit after tax of $476.7 million, marking a 70% increase from the previous year's after-tax result of $279.9 million in 2021-22. The significant improvement of $196.8 million stemmed from higher revenues due to increased production and elevated gold prices at the company's two key African mines.
Total revenue surged by 27% to $1.426 billion, while profit before tax more than doubled, reaching $569 million. Enhanced operational efficiency at the Edikan and Yaoure mines contributed to cost containment, resulting in excellent cash operating margins.
Perseus cited a tax expense of $92.1 million for the June 2023 year, compared to a $200,000 tax benefit in the previous year. This change was due to improved profitability at Edikan and withholding taxes on intercompany dividends paid from Cote d’Ivoire. Adjusting for the tax discrepancy would have pushed the profit beyond half a billion dollars.
The company is set to distribute a final dividend of an unfranked 2.48 cents per share, including a 1.77 cents bonus, totaling 3.54 cents per share for the year. This amount represents a more than 40% increase from the 2.45 cents per share paid in the previous year (2021-22).
Perseus reported a cash balance of $786 million as of June 30.
CEO Jeff Quartermaine expressed his satisfaction with the results, stating:
“The record financial results for FY23 reflect our continued strong operating performance at all levels of our business. Combined, our three West African gold mines are producing above our targeted rate of production with 535,281 ounces of gold produced in FY23, at a weighted average All-in Site Cost of US$959 per ounce, a cost that is very competitive when compared to most of our global peers.
"Our strong financial results have enabled us to add a bonus dividend to our final dividend for FY23, bringing our full year dividend yield to 2%, without materially detracting from our balance sheet or importantly, our ability to fund future growth.
"Since our maiden dividend distribution in August 2021, Perseus has returned nearly $100 million to its shareholders via dividends, and we have done this while investing record amounts of money in the economies of our host countries and host communities and paying bonuses to our local and expatriate employees who have delivered these outstanding results.”
Looking ahead to the December half-year, Perseus maintains its production guidance within the range of 262,100 to 277,120 ounces at an All-In Sustaining Cost of $US1,080 to $US1,190 per ounce. The December 2022 quarter saw a production of 268,371 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of $US930 per ounce.
Perseus confirmed that it remains on track to meet its gold production and all-in-site cost targets for the September 2023 quarter. Additionally, the company disclosed that it has hedged 24% of its gold production over the next three years at an average price of $US2,008 per ounce, closely aligned with the all-time high of $US2,085 per ounce reached on Comex in New York earlier this year.
