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The world’s third largest gold producer, AngloGold Ashanti (LSE:AGD) posted huge gains for the 2011 fiscal year with the balance sheets much healthier than the last, even taking into account a weaker last quarter.
Shareholders will receive a final dividend of 200 South African cents per share for the last quarter, more than the combined dividends paid by AngloGold in the previous three quarters.
The total dividends to be paid will be at 380 South African cents (US$0.49 cents), a 162% increase from 2010.
AngloGold’s capacity to provide that much dividend was made possible by achieving US$1.3 billion headline earnings for the whole year, a leap of 65% from its figures a year ago This translated to US$3.36/share, even with the last quarter’s headline earnings falling 35% to US$0.76 cents per share from the previous quarter.
A healthy cash flow reaching US$2.66 billion, a 59% increase compared to the prior year enabled the company to cut its debt by more than half from US$1.29 billion to US$610 million.
AngloGold stated in the report:
“The strong performance in earnings and cash flow was aided by the continued implementation of the Project ONE business improvement initiative across all operating sites, as well as the removal of the hedge book which gave AngloGold Ashanti full exposure to the higher gold price.”
AngloGold noted an 11% increase in gold value in 2011, an average of US$1,572/oz for the year whole year.
AngloGold Ashanti was able to produce 1.114 million ounces (Moz) of gold in the last quarter at a cost of US$762/oz, and a total full-year production of 4.33 Moz, at an average cost of US$728/oz.
More Gold
Notwithstanding the millions of ounces gold continually mined and from its’ network of operations in 20 different locations, AngloGold increased its reserves by 6% to 75.6 Moz and resources by 5% to 230.9 Moz, both net of depletion.
They were also able to reinvest back into the company, as they spent US$1.53 billion in capital expenditure, spreading across its various operations in the Americas, Africa and Australasia, in joint ventures and explorations.
CEO Comments
Mark Cutifani, Chief Executive Officer of AngloGold Ashanti commented:
“We’ve laid a strong foundation on which to grow the business. Our focus now is on pushing our projects through the pipeline and ensuring continued strong returns for our shareholders.”
Company Spotlight
AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold exploration and mining company with 20 operations across spread across the globe – in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Namibia, Guinea,Ghana, Tanzania, Mali, Australia, and South Africa, where majority of its gold production takes place.
References
↑ AngloGold also hit by S.Africa safety drive
↑ AngloGold Profit Drops, Missing Estimate; Doubles Dividend
↑ AngloGold Ashanti Global Operations
