AngloGold Ashanti, Africa’s top gold producer, reported a rise in first-quarter earnings on Monday as it cut costs and took advantage of a higher bullion price.
AngloGold said adjusted headline earnings for the first quarter totalled $119 million, or 29 U.S. cents per share, compared with $45 million in the three months to end-December and $113 million in the same period last year.
Total cash costs for the quarter fell 14 percent to $770 an ounce from the first quarter of 2013 as new, low-cost projects came on line in places such as Democratic Republic of Congo and the company reduced procurement costs.
Output for the quarter fell to 1.06 million ounces from around 1.3 million ounces in the previous quarter. But year-on-year output rose 17 percent as operations outside of South Africa ramped up.
The spot gold price increased 1 percent to an average of $1,275 an ounce in the three months to the end of March from the previous quarter.
Its South African operations cashed in on a weaker domestic currency, which meant the average gold price in rand rose 8 percent during the quarter.
Reuters
