Net income grew to $74.2 million, or 59.1 cents a share, from $14.4 million, or 17.7 cents, a year earlier. The company reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $111.4 million, beating the $102.4 million estimate of five analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The shares rose as much as 11 percent, the steepest gain in more than a year.
Peter Hambro had 222,600 ounces of so-called attributable gold output in the first six months of the year. The company reiterated its targeting full-year output of 500,000 ounces. It may surpass Randgold Resources, which is forecasting 490,000 ounces, to become the largest Britain-listed gold producer.
“If the group continues to build on today’s results and hits the top end of guidance and market forecasts, we believe the market will have no choice but to sit up and take notice,” Dominic O’Kane, an analyst with Liberum Capital, wrote in a note to investors. Peter Hambro “continues to trade at a hefty discount to its gold peers, despite seeming now in a strong position to deliver on its ambitious growth profile.”
“Peter Hambro was a lovely name for me, but it doesn’t really reflect the business,” chairman Peter Hambro said Thursday. “We are a much bigger Russian company than a British company.”
The company said costs per ounce fell 23 percent to $254, compared with a year earlier, as production increased. Sales expanded 46 percent to $214.1 million.
“Hanging on to our costs is critical, and as we produce more gold we should be able to do that,” Hambro said. “More units, lower costs.”
Peter Hambro, which gained iron-ore projects through its April acquisition of Aricom, is continuing to talk with potential investors about funding the development of its K&S and Garinskoye mines, Hambro said. Its Kuranakh iron-ore project should be in production by the end of the year, according to the statement.
“We’ve had meaningful discussions with Chinese consumers, and they are continuing” for all the projects, Hambro said. The size of the projects will depend on what funding is available, he said. The structure of any deal will likely be a joint venture, he said.
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