London-listed gold miner Randgold Resources Ltd (GOLD) Monday reported a 1.1% decline in net profit for 2008 after a non-cash provision of $10.3 million against investments and higher costs for the year ate into the company's bottom line.

Randgold's net profit attributable to equity shareholders, after exceptional items, was $41.57 million for the 12 months to Dec. 31, compared with $42.04 million a year earlier.

Revenue was up 19.7% to $338 572 million from $282.81 million a year earlier.

The market had expected net profit at $48.07 million and revenue at $341.87 million, according to a Dow Jones survey of seven analysts.

Randgold's attributable gold production was 428,426 troy ounces in 2008, compared with 444,573 ounces a year earlier. The company's target is 600,000 ounces a year by 2011.

Randgold, incorporated in Jersey, operates two gold mines in Mali and is developing projects elsewhere in Africa.

Mining is scheduled to end at its 40%-owned Morila mine in April, leaving future growth dependent on execution of an underground mining project at Loulo in Mali, construction of its Tongon project in Ivory Coast and development of exploration projects, like the Massawa discovery in Senegal. The company said its Loulo project is expected to ramp up by year-end, increasing the mine's annual production by about 100,000 ounces to 360,000 ounces.

Tongon remains on track for commissioning in the last quarter of 2010, and exploration at Massawa "has confirmed that it is a significant discovery," Randgold said.

Costs meanwhile eased in the fourth quarter to $459/oz, down 11% on the previous quarter, partly as a result of a drop in diesel prices, a major component of the company's cost structure.

Cash costs for the year hit $467/oz, compared with $356/oz in 2007.

The company's fourth quarter net profit fell 31.8% to $9.12 million from $13.39 million a year earlier. The fourth quarter result improved from the third quarter's $1.43 loss.

Fourth quarter revenues were $78.06 million compared with $87.58 million.

Randgold was a stand-out performer among London-listed miners last year as investors looked to gold as a safe haven from financial turmoil - shares gained almost 60%.

Randgold's shares closed at 3040 pence Friday, up 3.1% since the start of this year.

Company Web site: www.randgoldresources.com

-By Jeffrey Sparshott, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)207 842 9347; jeffrey.sparshott@dowjones.com