Petropavlovsk PLC (LON:POG) saw its full-year underlying profits jump around a third helped by higher gold production and prices, although costs also increased.
Underlying EBITDA rose 32% to US$350.7mln (£249mln) as revenue soared 33% to US$988.5mln, although total cash costs also jumped by 38%. The Russian gold miner had previously announced that production for 2020 rose 6% to 548,100 ounces as a jump in output from third-party concentrates outweighed a decline in its own production.
However, since the year end Petropavlovsk announced that gold output slumped 49% in the first quarter of this year, mainly due to a previously flagged issue with a lack of third-party concentrates, and was forced to lower its production guidance for 2021.
It moved to a loss of US$48.9mln for 2020, compared with a profit of US$25.7mln in 2019, due to the impact of non-cash items.
“Looking ahead, there is much to be addressed to drive improvement across the business in 2021 and beyond,” said chief executive Denis Alexandrov.
“From a cash flow perspective, one of our immediate opportunities is maximising utilisation of the POX Hub using our own refractory gold concentrates to reduce reliance on lower-margin third-party material via the successful on-schedule delivery of two major projects - the Pioneer flotation plant later this year and the Malomir flotation plant expansion next year.
“In addition, we continue to assess the development of our other assets, with the Albyn hub in particular having great potential that has not previously been fully considered,” he added.