Eldorado Gold Corporation (TSE:ELD) (NYSE:EGO) saw shares head north Friday as it boosted output but posted a wider net loss in 2018, largely due to impairment adjustments taken at its Olympias and Kisladag assets in Greece and Turkey respectively.
The gold producer has assets in Europe, North America and South America, and the hit at Olympias, reflected the jurisdictional risk with obtaining permits in Greece, and the weaker concentrate market, the Canada-based miner said.
READ: Eldorado Gold moves to restart mining at Turkey's Kisladag gold mine
The combined adjustments of $447.8 million for Olympias and Kisladag resulted in a net loss for the year of $361.9 million, or $2.28 a share, versus a net loss of $9.9 million in 2017 ($0.07 per share).
The adjusted net loss came to $26.3 million, compared with adjusted net earnings of $15.2 million last year.
Revenue was up to $459 million across the group for the year, compared to $391.4 million in the previous year, while gold produced came in at 349,147 ounces, up from 292,971 ounces in 2017.
Positioned to grow output
Looking ahead, CEO George Burns said: "As a result of the team’s hard work in 2018, we are well positioned to grow annual gold production to over 500,000 ounces in 2020. We expect this will allow us to generate significant free cash flow and provide us with the opportunity to consider debt retirement later this year.
"The restart of mining and heap leaching at Kisladag is a key part of our path forward. With improved heap leach recoveries, we expect our revised plan will provide increased free cash flow over the next three years," he added.
The group added that it was poised to begin commercial gold production at Lamaque in Quebec, Canada, later this quarter and expects total output at the project, including pre-commercial production, to be in excess of 100,000 ounces in 2019.
"We continue to focus on expansion possibilities through resource conversion, exploration drilling and increasing mill feed at this core asset."
Shares in New York added 4.65% to $4.48.
Contact Giles at giles@proactiveinvestors.com