Gold Fields Cuts Guidance Again After Net Profit Lags Forecast

By Christian Moess Laursen

Gold Fields, one of the world's largest gold miners, booked a lower-than-expected net profit for the first half, and said it forecasts to dig out less of the precious metal than previously targeted.

The South Africa mining company said Friday that it achieved $389 million in net profit in the half-year, down from $457.8 million in the same period last year. Revenue rose 15% to $2.21 billion.

These were markedly lower than the market consensus of $416.9 million in net profit and $2.30 billion in revenue, according to a Visible Alpha poll.

Gold production was hampered by severe weather events in Chile and Australia, as flagged by the company earlier this month, leading to a 20% drop in output to 918,000 ounces, and a cut to full-year guidance for the second time this year.

It now expects to produce between 2.05 million and 2.15 million ounces for the year, down from its previous forecast of 2.2 million to 2.3 million ounces, at all-in sustaining costs of between $1,580 and $1,670 an ounce.

Headline earnings--a closely-watched metric by the company--plummeted 30% to $320.7 million, or 36 cents a share.

Write to Christian Moess Laursen at christian.moess@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 23, 2024 01:59 ET (05:59 GMT)

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