Johannesburg - DRDGOLD [JSE:DRD], reported a 25% increase in
second-quarter profit on Tuesday, lifted by higher prices and production and
declared its first interim dividend.
South Africa's fourth-largest gold producer said diluted
headline earnings totalled 25 cents per share in the three months to
end-December, from 20 cents in the preceding quarter.
The company said it was helped by a 9% increase in gold
production and a 7% increase in the average rand gold price received during the
quarter.
DRDGold's production, which came in at 39,031 ounces in the
second quarter, comes from surface operations and the extraction of gold
contained in mine dumps surrounding Johannesburg.
Chief Executive Niel Pretorius, who describes his company as
a gold plant more than a gold mine, is targeting production of between 140,000
and 150,000 ounces a year.
The company has decided to sell four of five exploration
assets in Zimbabwe saying the underground mining potential at prospects did not
sit with its strategy of keeping operations above ground.
But it said prospects for gold tailings reclamation in the country
are still being evaluated.
DRDGold said it would pay an interim dividend of 14 cents
per share, its first time to pay an interim dividend.
Shares of DRDGold have gained more than 13% in this year to
date, compared to a 3.3% decline in the JSE's Gold Index.
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