BLBG:Randgold Profit Rises Fourfold on Increased Output, Price Gain
Randgold Resources (RRS), a miner of the precious metal in Africa, said fourth-quarter profit rose more than fourfold after production increased and prices gained.
Net income climbed to $115.5 million from $26.8 million a year earlier, the Jersey, Channel Islands-based company said today in a statement. Sales more than doubled to $313.6 million.
Gold producers’ profits have been buoyed by near-record prices for bullion as Europe’s sovereign-debt woes and central banks’ money printing spurred demand for precious metals. Gold for immediate delivery averaged $1,683 an ounce in the fourth quarter, compared with $1,370 a year earlier.
Randgold, which produced 696,023 ounces of gold in 2011, targets output of 825,000 ounces to 865,000 this year. Randgold plans to produce about 950,000 ounces next year and 1.2 million ounces in 2015. The company proposed doubling its dividend to 40 cents a share.
Randgold rose 1.2 percent to 7,490 pence at 8:26 a.m. in London trading, reversing an earlier slump of as much as 4.6 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Biesheuvel in London at tbiesheuvel@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Viljoen at jviljoen@bloomberg.net
