The news: Gold Road Resources shares fell on the ASX after the Perth-based gold miner reported a decline in half-year profit as heavy rains in March and April impacted production at its Gruyère mine in Western Australia.
The numbers: Gold Road shares fell 4.4% to $1.74 by 2:10pm AEST.
The mining group reported net profit after tax of $43.1 million, down 12.6 percent from the same period last year. EBITDA fell 28.4 percent year-on-year to $94.2 million, while revenue from gold sales fell 17.3 percent to $211.7 million.
Last month, Gold Road reduced its full-year production guidance to 290,000-305,000 ounces from 300,000-335,000 ounces. All-in costs were revised upward to $2,050-2,200 per ounce from $1,900-2,050 per ounce.
Gold Road announced an interim dividend of 0.5 cents per share, down from 1.2 cents at the same time last year.
The context: Gold Road Managing Director and CEO Duncan Gibbs described the first half of the 2024 financial year as “challenging”, with gold production and exploration efforts impacted by regional rainfall that forced a seven-week closure of the main access to the Gruyère mine in Western Australia.
However, Gibbs pointed out that Gold Road benefited from record high gold prices in the six months to June.
What they said: “Gruyere is now well positioned to deliver on our expectations for this high-quality ore deposit,” said Gibbs.
“I expect gold production to increase through the end of 2024 and production rates to increase sustainably to enable higher gold production in the coming years.”