Gold Fields Ltd., the fourth-largest producer of the metal, posted a 26 percent increase in fourth- quarter profit on higher prices of the metal in rand, beating analyst expectations.
Earnings excluding one-time items rose to 2.65 billion rand ($341 million), or 3.68 rand a share, in the three months through Dec. 31, from 2.11 billion rand, or 2.91 rand, in the previous quarter, it said in a statement today.
That compares with the median estimate of 3.62 rand a share by five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Analysts who track South African gold producers measure quarter-on-quarter earnings excluding one-time items.
South African gold producers benefited from a 12 percent jump in the average local price of the metal in the quarter from the prior three months as the rand weakened against the dollar. Johannesburg-based Gold Fields produces about half of its output in the country and also has mines in Ghana, Australia and Peru.
Production fell to 883,000 ounces in the quarter from 900,000 ounces in the previous quarter, Gold Fields said. Annual output was 0.3 percent lower at 3.49 million ounces. The company declared a final dividend for the year of 2.30 rand a share.
Producers in South Africa, the continent’s largest producer of gold, gain from a weaker rand because they sell much of their output in dollars and pay most costs in rand. The average rand- dollar exchange rate slid 13 percent in the quarter from the previous three months, its biggest decline in 12 quarters. Read More
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