Dual-listed gold recovery company DRDGold expects to report earnings per share (EPS) of between 1.18c and 1.82c apiece for the financial year ended June 30, compared with earnings of 3.2c in the prior comparable period, which represents a decrease of between 43% and 63%.
The company expects headline earnings per share (HEPS) to be between 1.53c and 1.87c, compared with 0.2c apiece for the prior comparable period.
The expected increase in HEPS is owing to a 10% increase in gold production from 4 265 kg to 4 679 kg.
The increase in gold production also resulted in a 6% decrease in cash operating costs from R489 549/kg to about R459 000/kg, and a 5% decrease in all-in sustaining costs from R530 930/kg to about R506 000/kg.
The HEPS include R9-million in transaction costs incurred from DRDGold’s acquisition of the West Rand Tailings Retreatment Project assets from Sibanye-Stillwater.