Report of Foreign Issuer Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 (6-k)

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

______________________

FORM 6-K

REPORT OF A FOREIGN PRIVATE

 

ISSUER

PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16

UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For February 2022

Commission File Number 0-28800

______________________

DRDGOLD Limited

Constantia Office Park

Cnr 14th Avenue and Hendrik Potgieter Road

Cycad House, Building 17, Ground Floor

Weltevreden Park 1709

(

Address of principal executive offices

)

______________________

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-

F or Form 40-F.

Form 20-F

☑

 

Form 40-F

☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is

also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Yes

☐

 

No

☑

If ''Yes''

 

is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection with Rule

12g3-2(b): N/A

 

 

Attached to the Registrant Form 6-K filing for the month of February 2022, incorporated

by reference herein:

Exhibit

 

99.1

 

Release dated

 

February 3,

 

2022, “TRADING

 

STATEMENT

 

FOR THE

 

SIX MONTHS

 

ENDED

31 DECEMBER 2021”

 

 

 

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused

this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

DRDGOLD LIMITED

Date: February 3, 2022

 

By: /s/ Riaan Davel

 

Name: Riaan Davel

 

Title: Chief Financial Officer

 

 

Exhibit 99.1

DRDGOLD LIMITED

(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)

(Registration number: 1895/000926/06)

ISIN: ZAE000058723

JSE share code: DRD

NYSE trading symbol: DRD

(“

DRDGOLD

” or the “

Company

” or the “

Group

”)

TRADING STATEMENT

 

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER

 

2021

In

 

terms

 

of

 

paragraph

 

3.4(b)

 

of

 

the

 

JSE

 

Limited

 

Listings

 

Requirements,

 

companies

 

are

 

required

 

to

 

publish

 

a

trading statement

 

as soon as

 

they are satisfied,

 

with a reasonable

 

degree of certainty,

 

that the financial

 

results

for the current reporting period will differ by at least 20%

 

from the financial results of the previous corresponding

period.

DRDGOLD

 

is

 

in

 

the

 

process

 

of

 

finalising

 

its

 

results

 

for

 

the

 

six

 

months

 

ended

 

31

 

December

 

2021

 

(“

Current

Reporting Period

”) and shareholders

 

are accordingly

 

advised that the

 

Company has reasonable

 

certainty that

it will

 

report earnings

 

per share

 

(“

EPS

”) and

 

headline earnings

 

per share

 

(“

HEPS

”) of

 

between 52.5

 

cents and

63.6 cents compared

 

to EPS

 

and HEPS

 

of

111

cents for

 

the six months

 

ended 31

 

December 2020

 

(“

Previous

Corresponding Period

”), being a decrease of between 43% and 53%,

 

respectively.

The

 

expected

 

decrease

 

in

 

EPS

 

and

 

HEPS

 

for

 

the

 

Current

 

Reporting

 

Period

 

compared

 

to

 

the

 

Previous

Corresponding Period is due mainly to movements

 

in,

inter alia

, the following items:

1.

 

Revenue

 

Revenue decreased by R478.9 million, or 16%, to R2,498.5

 

million (2020: R2,977.4 million).

 

Ergo Mining

 

Proprietary Limited’s

 

(“

Ergo

”) revenue

 

decreased by

 

R464.1 million,

 

or 20%,

 

to R1,804.6

million (2020: R2,268.7

 

million), due

 

mainly to a

 

13% decrease

 

in the Rand

 

gold price received

 

as well

as a 9% decrease

 

in gold sold to

 

2,090Kg (2020: 2,296Kg).

 

Volume throughput

 

increased by 1%.

 

Yield

decreased by 9% to 0.184g/t

 

(2020: 0.202g/t) as a

 

result of the bulk

 

of the higher-grade reserves

 

in the

Knights area reaching the end of life of mine.

 

Far West Gold

 

Recoveries Proprietary Limited’s

 

(“

FWGR

”) revenue decreased by

 

R14.9 million, or 2%,

to R693.8 million

 

(2020: R708.7

 

million) despite

 

a 13%

 

increase in

 

gold sold

 

to 801Kg

 

(2020: 710Kg),

due

 

to

 

a

 

13%

 

decrease

 

in

 

the

 

Rand

 

gold

 

price

 

received.

 

Volume

 

throughput

 

remained

 

stable.

 

Yield

increased

 

by

 

11%

 

to

 

0.257g/t

 

(2020:

 

0.232g/t)

 

due

 

to

 

higher-grade

 

material

 

being

 

reclaimed

 

from

Driefontein 5 and

 

improved gold bullion

 

purities resulting from

 

the implementation

 

of the copper

 

elution

circuit.

2.

 

Cash Operating Costs

Cash operating costs increased by R161.4 million, or

 

11%, to R1,680.2

 

million (2020: R1,518.8 million).

 

At Ergo, cash operating costs increased by

 

R154.9 million, or 12%, to R1,471.8

 

million (2020: R1,316.9

million) due

 

to the 1%

 

increase in

 

volume throughput,

 

an increase

 

in the use

 

of reagents

 

as a result

 

of

the increase

 

in volume

 

throughput

 

together

 

with a

 

change

 

in the

 

minerology

 

of new

 

mining sites,

 

and

above CPI increases in steel and reagents.

 

At

 

FWGR,

 

cash

 

operating

 

costs

 

increased

 

by

 

R6.5

 

million,

 

or

 

3%,

 

to

 

R208.4

 

million

 

(2020:

 

R201.9

million).

 

3.

 

Liquidity

As at 31 December 2021, DRDGOLD’s cash and cash equivalents was R2,239.1 million (30 June 2021:

R2,180.0

 

million),

 

with

 

a

 

revolving

 

credit

 

facility

 

with

 

ABSA

 

Bank

 

Limited

 

of

 

R200

 

million,

 

available

 

if

needed. During the interim period

 

ended 31 December 2021, DRDGOLD generated

 

free cash flow (cash

inflow from

 

operating activities less

 

cash outflow

 

from investing

 

activities) of R406.9

 

million (2020:

 

R759.6

million) and paid cash dividends of

 

R345.5 million (2020: R299.1 million). The Group remains free

 

of any

bank debt as at 31 December 2021 (30 June 2021: Rnil).

The financial

 

information

 

contained

 

in this

 

announcement

 

is the

 

responsibility

 

of

 

the

 

directors

 

of DRDGOLD,

 

and

such information has not been reviewed or reported on by

 

the Company’s auditors.

The

 

condensed

 

consolidated

 

interim

 

results

 

for

 

the

 

six

 

months

 

ended

 

31

 

December

 

2021

 

are

 

expected

 

to

 

be

published on or about 16 February 2022.

Johannesburg

3 February 2022

Sponsor

One Capital