PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed gold miner Perseus Mining has swung to a loss during the full year ended June, on the back of lower production from its Edikan mine, in Ghana, and the stronger Australian dollar.

During the period under review, revenue decreased by 10% to A$264.2-million, compared with A$293.7-million in 2013, while an after-tax loss of A$32-million was recorded in 2014, compared with an after-tax profit of A$41.8-million in 2013.

The ASX- and TSX-listed miner said that the full-year loss included a foreign exchange rate loss of A$21.6-million, redundancy costs of A$3.1-million and a provision for doubtful debts of A$3-million.

“Our financial performance in 2014 was disappointing relative to the prior financial year; however, the result needs to be seen in context,” said MD Jeff Quartermaine.

He noted that in 2013, the company’s profit was enhanced by foreign exchange gains, while Perseus incurred material foreign exchange losses in 2014, arising from pronounced movements in the US dollar and the Ghanaian cedi against the Australian dollar.

The foreign exchange movements accounted for over 60% of the turnaround in the result.

“Notwithstanding this change, we did have a challenging year at our Edikan gold mine, which resulted in gold production falling short of budget by around 10%, due in part to a fire in the processing plant in April, a transformer failure in June, and unreliable grid power supply during the course of the year,” Quartermaine said.

He noted that the company had also experienced escalating mining costs, which currently represented around 55% of Perseus’ cost base.

Gold production from the Edikan mine declined to 180 519 oz during the full-year under review, compared with the 208 444 oz produced in the previous financial year, while all-in costs (AIC) increased to $1 294/oz, from $1 150/oz reported in 2013.

Quartermaine was hopeful that 2015 would be a better year for the gold miner, with an increase in gold production expected owing to improved grades at Edikan, as well as improvements in the operating parameters, including plant availability, run-time and gold recovery.

“In addition, a series of measures are being implemented to further reduce the cost base of the company, in particular the costs of mining,” he said.

Gold production from Edikan was expected to reach between 210 000 oz and 230 000 oz during 2015, at AIC of between $1 100/oz and $1 200/oz.