Wed Nov 07 2012
Harmony Gold, South Africa's
third largest bullion producer, reported a dramatic turnaround in first-quarter
earnings on Wednesday as it cashed in on rand gold prices hovering at quarterly
highs. Headline earnings were 123 cents per share for the three months from
July to September from a headline loss of 15 cents a share in the previous
quarter, which beat the average estimate of 107.7 cents in a Reuters poll of
six analysts.
Headline earnings per share, the
main measure of profit in South Africa, excludes certain one-time items. The
average gold price in the September quarter rose 3 percent to $1,652 per ounce.
And weakness in the South African currency meant in rand terms the average
price during the July-September quarter was up 4 percent to 438,000 rand per
kilogram.
Production was 8 percent up at
321,924 ounces but output is likely to fall in the December quarter after it
lost about 25,000 ounces of production due to an illegal strike at its
Kusasalethu operations near Carletonville in October. Despite getting more than
90 percent of its output from South Africa, Harmony managed to escape
relatively unscathed from violent wildcat strikes that have crippled operations
at South African gold and platinum producers in recent months.
The strikes over wages and discontent with the industry's largest trade union have led to the violent deaths of more than 50 people, 34 at the hands of police.
Source: Reuters