By Alex MacDonald
LONDON--South Africa-based gold miner Gold Fields Ltd.(GFI)
Thursday reported a swing to a small net profit last year as it
continued to ramp up production amid a lower gold price environment
and said it would continue to cut costs this year while maintaining
broadly flat gold production.
Gold Fields, the world's seventh largest gold producer by output
with eight operating mines in Australia, Ghana, Peru and South
Africa, said it swung to a net profit of $12.8 million last year
compared with an impairment-weighted net loss of $296 million a
year earlier. Net profit rose despite a 1.3% drop in revenue to
$2.87 billion last year following a 10% drop in the gold price
which more than offset a 10% rise in gold output to 2.2 million
ounces.
Gold Fields has been restructuring its business over the past
two years to cope with a lower gold price. The company spun off
three of its aging South African mines to create Sibanye Gold Ltd.
in 2013 and has been working on cutting costs and reducing its debt
as the low gold price continues to take its toll on many gold
miners.
The company said its all-in cost, which includes exploration,
development and operational costs, dropped 12% to $1,087 a troy
ounce last year and net debt fell 16% to $1.45 billion as of the
end of last year.
The company said its international operations performed well
although its South Deep mine in South Africa suffered a 34% output
drop due to a four-month remediation program and continued shortage
of mechanised mining skills in South Africa.
"South Deep remains challenging and the planned build-up for
2015 will not be achieved. However, we believe that 2014 was the
low-point for the mine and expect consistent improvement through
2015 and beyond," Gold Fields Chief Executive Officer Nick Holland
said in a statement.
Looking ahead, the company said it plans to produce about 2.2
million gold ounces this year at an all-in cost of $1,075/oz.
Capital expenditure has been set at $660 million.
Gold Fields declared a final dividend of $0.20 South African
Rand following its sixth consecutive quarter of positive cashflow
last quarter.
-Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@wsj.com