Exhibit 99.1
DRDGOLD LIMITED
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number: 1895/000926/06)
ISIN: ZAE000058723
JSE share code: DRD
NYSE trading symbol: DRD
(“
DRDGOLD
” or the “
Company
” or the “
Group
”)
VOLUNTARY
TRADING STATEMENT
AND TRADING UPDATE
FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 31
DECEMBER 2022
DRDGOLD
is
in
the
process
of
finalising
its
results
for
the
six
months
ended
31
December
2022
(“
Current
Reporting Period
”) and shareholders
are accordingly
advised that the
Company has reasonable
certainty that
for
the
Current
Reporting
Period
it
will
report
earnings
per
share
(“
EPS
”)
and
headline
earnings
per
share
(“
HEPS
”) of between 59.5
cents and 68.1 cents per
share compared to EPS
and HEPS of 58.0 cents
per share
for the six
months ended 31
December 2021 (“
Previous Corresponding Period
”), being an
increase of between
2.6% and 17.4%.
The
expected
increases
in
EPS
and
HEPS
for
the
Current
Reporting
Period
compared
to
the
Previous
Corresponding Period are mainly due to movements in,
inter alia
, the following items:
Revenue increased by R155.8 million, or 6%, to R2,654.3 million
(2021: R2,498.5 million).
Ergo
Mining
Proprietary
Limited’s
(“
Ergo
”)
revenue
increased
by R153.8
million
to R1,958.5
million
(2021:
R1,804.7 million), mainly due to
an 11%
increase in the Rand gold
price received as well
as a 10% increase
in yield
to 0.203g/t
from 0.184g/t
to make
up for
the 2%
decrease in
gold sold
to 2,040Kg
(2021: 2,090Kg).
Volume
throughput
decreased
by
14%
mainly
as
a
result
of
unprecedented
load
shedding,
unscheduled
electricity trip-outs
at the
Ergo plant
related to
the Eskom
grid, and
excessive rain.
Volume
throughput was
also impacted
by late
phase clean-up
at Ergo
sites where,
as the
last material
is lifted
from the
floor of
the
reclamation site, volumes
are typically lower and head grades slightly higher.
Far West Gold Recoveries’ (“
FWGR
”) revenue remained stable at R695.8 million (2021: R693.8 million). The
11%
increase in
the Rand
gold price
received
was offset
by a
10% decrease
in gold
sold to
722Kg (2021:
801Kg).
Volume
throughput
decreased
by
3%
mainly
due
to
severe
weather
causing
damage
to
the
reclamation drawdown point
at Driefontein 5,
resulting in 4
days of lost
tonnages. Yield decreased by 0.012g/t,
or 5%, to 0.245g/t from
0.257g/t in part attributable
to the processing of
a lower-grade part of the
Driefontein
No 5 dump and the suspension of milling to curtail
load during periods of load shedding.
The impact of
the increase
in revenue on
earnings and
headline earnings was
moderated by an
increase in
cash operating costs of R159.3 million, or 10%, to R1,839.5
million (2021: R1,680.2 million).
At Ergo,
cash operating costs
increased by
R122.4 million, or
8%, to
R1,594.2 million (2021: R1,471.8
million),
and, at
FWGR,
cash
operating
costs
increased
by R36.9
million,
or 18%,
to R245.3
million (2021:
R208.4
million). At
both Ergo
and FWGR,
these increases
were consistent
with anticipated
double digit
inflationary
increases in the cost of reagents, steel-related products,
electricity and transportation.
As
at
31
December
2022,
DRDGOLD
held
R2,392.2
million
in
cash
and
cash
equivalents
compared
to
R2,525.6 million on 30 June 2022. During the
Current Reporting Period, DRDGOLD generated free cash flow
(cash inflow from
operating activities less cash
outflow from investing activities)
of R215.4 million (2021:
406.9