Proactive Investors - Endeavour Mining upped its annual dividend payout by US$60mln to US$200mln after the FTSE 100 gold miner confirmed another solid year of production.
Output in 2002 was 1,400 oz of gold with costs at US$928 per oz, marking a tenth consecutive year of beating production and cost guidance said the West Africa-focused miner.
Sebastien de Montessus, chief executive, added: “2022 was another successful year for Endeavour during which we delivered on all our objectives.
“We produced 1.4Moz of gold, achieving the top end of our production guidance range and we are particularly pleased to have achieved our all-in sustaining cost guidance of below $930/oz as a result of our strong production performance and optimisation initiatives, despite the inflationary pressures impacting the industry.
“This strong operating performance generated over US$1bn in operating cash flow”
Going forward, de Montessus said that the Sabodala-Massawa expansion and the Lafigué greenfield build were “progressing well” with both projects on track for first production in 2024 and costs in line with expectations.
On the exploration front, Tanda-Iguela deposit in Cote d’Ivoire has the potential to become another cornerstone asset for the company, he said.
In the fourth quarter of 2022 revenues and pre-tax earnings increased sequentially to US$617mln and US$156mln, though were down on the comparable quarter in 2021.
For the full year revenues dropped to US$2.51bn (US$2.64bn) with pre-tax profits down to US$145mln from US$448mln after write-offs on the Boungou and Wahgnion mines costing US$360mln.
Underlying profits (EBITDA) for the year were US$827mln (US$1.11bn), with net cash at the year-end of US£121mln.