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(Kitco News) - Senior gold producer Harmony Gold (NYSE: HMY) announced today that for the company’s fiscal year ended 30 June 2022 (FY22), its gold production decreased 3% to 1,486,517oz from 1,535,352oz in FY21.
The company said that the decrease in gold output was mainly due to safety-related stoppages, mining constraints and supply chain disruptions at its operations in South Africa.
In Papua New Guinea, production was severely impacted by the overland conveyor belt failure at Hidden Valley and geotechnical instability impacting Stage 6 of the pit, Harmony added.
According to a press-release, the company’s all-in sustaining cost of US$1,709/oz was slightly higher than its amended guidance range for FY22 which was between US$1,626/oz and US$1,708/oz.
Harmony Gold noted that production costs increased mainly due to the inclusion of Mponeng and its related assets' operating costs for a full year compared to nine months in FY21, adding that inflationary increases also affected various facets such as labour, consumables and electricity costs.
Importantly, Harmony Gold said that its financial performance in FY22 reflects a net loss of US$48 million compared to a net profit of US$326 million in FY21.
The company explained that this result is primarily due to higher production costs, as well as a higher impairment loss that has been recognized on property, plant and equipment and goodwill.
Basic earnings per share declined more than 100% from 54 US cents per share in FY21 to a loss of 8 US cents per share in FY22. Headline earnings per share decreased 49% to 33 US cents per share for FY22 from 64 US cents per share for FY21.
Harmony Gold has also declared a final dividend of 1.3 US cents per share on the back of the operating free cash generated throughout the financial year. This, in addition to the interim dividend paid, translates to a full year dividend yield of approximately 1.1% based on the company’s recent share price.
In addition, the company reported a 6% decrease in total mineral resources and reserves to 132.6Moz and 39.8Moz respectively.
Harmony Gold has operations and assets in South Africa and Papua New Guinea (PNG). The company's assets include one open pit mine and several exploration tenements in PNG, as well as 10 underground mines and 1 open pit operation and several surface sources in South Africa. In addition, Harmony owns 50% of the significant Wafi-Golpu copper-gold project – a tier 1 asset in a joint venture in PNG.
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