| Fri 8 Feb 2002, 0:00 | | Randgold Resources Limited - Report For The 4th Qu |
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December 2001.
Randgold Resources Limited
Incorporated in Jersey, Channel Islands
Reg. No. 62686
REPORT FOR THE 4th QUARTER AND YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2001
* Bottom line profits of US$17.8 million for the year and US$3.9 million for
quarter
* Annual attributable gold production increased from 225 000 oz to 252 000
oz
* Cash operating costs decreased from US$260/oz to US$84/oz
* Morila finishes the year ahead of plan
* Syama operation closed
* Resource base grows by 1.5 million ounces (1.1 million attributable
ounces)
* Loulo and Tongon feasibility studies underway
Randgold Resources Limited has 22 million shares issued as at 31 December
2001
CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT
Unaudited Audited Unaudited Unaudited
12 months 12 months Quarter Quarter
ended ended ended ended
31 Dec 31 Dec 31 Dec 30 Sept
US$000 2001 2000 2001 2001
Revenues
Gold sales 68 991 15 168 16 019 18 170
Interest
received 2 293 2 167 96 630
Exploration
expenditure
recovered 122 139 18 79
Other income 930 4 241 373 9
72 336 21 715 16 506 18 888
Cost and
expenses
Production
costs 22 533 4 430 6 747 5 436
Transport and
refinery costs 454 - 104 600
Transfer to
deferred
stripping
costs (1 991) (367) (1 429) (321)
Cash operating
costs 20 996 4 063 5 422 5 715
Royalties 4 748 909 1 106 1 250
Total cash
costs 25 744 4 972 6 528 6 965
Profit before
other charges 46 592 16 743 9 978 11 923
Interest expense 3 058 11 641 942 800
Depreciation and
amortisation 5 722 964 1 526 1 386
Exploration and
corporate
expenditure 9 309 10 870 2 493 1 959
Rehabilitation
provision 144 - 48 48
Loss/(profit) on
financial
instruments 214 (3 602) 214 -
Other expenses 533 6 548 100 -
Total costs 44 724 31 393 11 851 11 158
Profit/(loss)
on ordinary
activities
before taxes,
discontinued
operations and
minority
interests 27 612 (9 678) 4 655 7 730
Profit related to sale of half of interest
in Morila - 124 979 - -
Discontinued
operation -
Syama (10 091) (91 087) (788) (2 658)
Minority
shareholders'
interest 270 147 13 118
Net profit 17 791 24 361 3 880 5 190
Dividends Nil Nil
Earnings per
share (US$) 0.58 0.74
Average shares
in issue 30 517 646 33 062 209
Note:
Shares issued reduced from 33 million to 22 million at the end of September
2001, when 34% of the shares were repurchased. Earnings per share is based
on the average shares in issue for the 12 months ended 31 December 2001.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
at 31 Dec at 30 Sept at 31 Dec
US$000 2001 2001 2000
Assets
Cash and equivalents 11 157 13 166 63 505
Receivables 15 517 9 266 26 254
Inventories 10 432 10 240 10 534
Total current assets 37 106 32 672 100 293
Property, plant and
equipment
Cost 161 308 163 515 153 537
Accumulated
depreciation (81 964) (80 438) (76 242)
Net property, plant
and equipment 79 344 83 076 77 295
Other long-term assets 2 359 930 368
Total assets 118 809 116 678 177 956
Bank overdraft 1 708 1 906 1 867
Accounts payable and
accrued liabilities 23 265 22 814 28 292
Total current
liabilities 24 973 24 720 30 159
Provision for
environmental
rehabilitation 3 240 3 792 3 616
Deferred liabilities
on financial
instruments 1 030 1 000 4 368
Long-term loans 58 217 59 644 44 071
Loans from outside
shareholders in
subsidiaries 1 335 1 088 22 258
Total long-term
liabilities 63 822 65 524 74 313
Total liabilities 88 795 90 244 104 472
Interest of outside
shareholders in
subsidiaries' losses - - (19 942)
Shareholders' equity 30 014 26 434 93 426
Total liabilities
and shareholders'
equity 118 809 116 678 177 956
CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
Unaudited Audited
12 months 12 months
ended ended
US$000 31 Dec 2001 31 Dec 2000
Cash flow from operations
Profit before tax and minorities 17 521 23 103
Costs transferred to deferred
stripping (1 991) (368)
Depreciation and impairment 5 722 86 814
(Decrease)/increase in
rehabilitation provision (376) 1 903
Movement in deferred liabilities
on financial instruments 3 338 (3 602)
Working capital movement (2 997) (12 087)
Net cash generated from operations 21 217 95 763
Additions to property, plant
and equipment (net) (7 771) (65 850)
Increase in long-term loans
and loans from outside
shareholders 13 167 35 407
Share buy-back net of share
option proceeds (78 802) -
Net (decrease)/increase in cash
and equivalents (52 189) 65 320
Note:
Year 2000 includes US$132 000 from sale of share in Morila.
STATEMENT of CHANGES in Equity
Number
Of Share Share
Ordinary capital premium
Shares US$000 US$000
Balance -
31 December
2000 33 076 629 3 307 240 742
Prior
year
adjustment - - -
Restated -
31 December
2000 33 076 629 3 307 240 742
Financial
instrument - - -
Net profit - - -
Share options 997 404 100 1 715
Share
buyback (11 612 403) (1 161) (80 627)
Balance -
31 December
2001 22 461 630 2 246 161 830
Accumu-
Other lated Total
Reserves losses equity
US$000 US$000 US$000
Balance -
31 Dec 2000 - (150 108) 93 941
Prior year adjustment (515) - (515)
Restated -
31 December
2000 (515) (150 158) 93 426
Financial instrument (1 230) - (1 230)
Net profit - 17 791 17 791
Share options - - 1 815
Share buyback - - (81 788)
Balance -
31 Dec 2001 (1 745) (132 317) 30 014
COMMENTS
The Company made an operating profit of US$46.6 million, a significant
improvement on the previous year. Excluding the profit from the sale of 40%
of Morila to AngloGold in 2000, the current year's profit shows an
improvement of US$29.8 million mainly as a result of Morila's first full
year of production and the cessation of production at Syama.
The fourth quarter net profit at US$3.9 million is lower than that of the
third quarter, but in line with the Morila life of mine plan as forecast for
this period. Exploration and corporate expenditure was lower than the
previous year.
With Morila achieving financial and technical completion during the current
financial year, Randgold Resources received its first distribution amounting
to US$6.4 million in September 2001. The compulsory repurchase of 34.08% of
the Company's shares at US$7 per share was successfully completed in
September 2001, with the Company paying a total of US$81.3 million to
shareholders. Shares in issue decreased from 33 million to 22 million as
reflected in a decrease in shareholders' equity through a reduction in share
premium.
The main balance sheet movements are a reduction in cash and an increase in
long-term loans. The movement in the long-term loans includes the repayment
of the Syama IFC loan of US$15 million and the 40% attributable portion of
the Morila project financing, which has been repaid, amounting to US$10
million. The remaining project finance, of which the Company's share is
some US$30 million, is non-recourse to Randgold Resources. These decreases
have been offset by US$33 million draw down of the corporate facility.
In view of the cessation of operations at Syama, the loans from and interest
of outside shareholders in Syama, have been netted off from September 2001.
HEDGING
Details of derivative instruments at 31 December 2001 are :
Morila
Randgold Resources' share of gold which has been sold forward at a fixed
price of US$275/oz over the period January 2002 to December 2004 amounts to
179 840 ounces. The Company's share of purchased call options for the same
period amounts to 63 653 ounces at prices between US$340/oz and US$360/oz
and sold call options of 148 500 ounces at US$353/oz.
Morila also has some additional hedging for 2002 of which the Company's
share is 24 000 ounces of put options bought at US$275/oz and 24 000 ounces
of call options sold at US$310/oz.
ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The abridged financial statements included in this report have been prepared
in terms of International Accounting Standards. During the year the Group
adopted IAS 39 "Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement". The
effect of the adoption is a US$0.5 million increase in attributable earnings
for the year ended 31 December 2000. Opening retained earnings have been
adjusted in the consolidated statement of changes in shareholders' equity.
This preliminary announcement contains financial information which has been
extracted from the latest financial statements.
This announcement does not constitute the full financial statements, which
will be approved by the board and reported on by the auditors at a later
stage. The accounts of Randgold Resources Limited were the subject of an
unqualified audit report for the year ended 31 December 2000.
OPERATIONS - MORILA
Morila has completed its first full year of production. Production totalled
631 650 ounces of gold which was produced at a cash operating cost of
US$84/oz and total cash cost of US$102.50/oz. Cash profit for the year was
US$107.9 million.
Successful exploration in the pit area has lead to the replacement of mined-
out ore and the resource base now stands at 46.9 million tons at a grade of
3.93 g/t, for a total content of 5.93 million ounces, (6.02 million ounces
in 2000).
MORILA RESULTS
Year Quarter Quarter
Ended ended ended
31 Dec 31 Dec 30 Sept
US$000 2001 2001 2001
Mining
Tons mined (000) 23 067 7 677 5 273
Ore tons mined (000) 3 429 753 839
Milling
Tons processed (000) 2 855 775 754
Ore grade milled (g/t) 7.45 6.64 7.20
Recovery (%) 92.4 91.8 91.8
Ounces produced 631 650 144 189 163 278
Average price received
(US$/oz) 273 277 278
Cash operating cost
(US$/oz) 84 98 85
Cash profit 107 935 23 612 28 013
Attributable (40%)
Ounces produced 252 660 57 676 65 311
Cash profit 43 174 9 444 11 205
Good progress has been made in optimising the operation and the last quarter
saw the design throughput exceeded.
DISCONTINUED OPERATION
Following its decision last year to suspend mining operations, activities at
the Syama mine have now been reduced to rehabilitation and monitoring work.
The retrenchment of the Syama workforce has been completed without incident.
The bulk of the earthmoving fleet has been sold. All gold production
activities, including the clean-up of the gold plant, have now ceased.
Management focus at Syama in this last year has been the reduction of the
operation's obligations, preserving the integrity of the orebody and
ensuring a smooth transition to the rehabilitation phase, as operations
ceased.
Discussions with parties interested in acquiring the mine continue.
However, since there has been no significant, sustained improvement in the
gold price, following last year's suspension of operations, consideration is
being given to the phased disposal of Syama's plant and infrastructure
whilst retaining the Phase I oxide circuit.
Syama's net loss for the year ended 31 December 2001 amounted to US$10.1
million (2000: US$91.1 million). This comprised of sales revenue of US$16.7
million (2000: US$48.6 million) less production and closure costs US$26.4
million (2000: US$56.9 million) and net sundry expenses of US$0.4 million
(2000: (US$3.0) million). During the previous financial year, the mines
assets were written down by US$74.6 million to its net realisable value,
hence no depreciation was charged for the year (2000: US$11.2 million).
PROJECTS AND EVALUATION
Loulo Project Updated Feasibility Study
Over the past year, good progress has been made in outlining extensions to
the identified resources at Loulo. In total the exploration effort has led
to a resource base which now stands at 33.7 million tons at a grade of 3.85
g/t for a total of 4.17 million ounces, which represents an increase of 570
000 ounces over 2000. From this base work is now focussed on updating the
feasibility study. The main areas under re-evaluation are pit optimisation
and scheduling, metallurgical review of processing options and logistics, in
particular power supply.
Tongon Prefeasibility
Since taking over full control of the Tongon Project, after the cessation of
the joint venture with North Ltd, sustained exploration activities have led
to an increase of the resource to 2.9 million ounces from the previously
reported 1.8 million ounces. This has given us increased confidence in the
project and a Type 2 prefeasibility study is underway. Metallurgical
testwork results are awaited and the outcome of this preliminary study
should be available in the first quarter of 2002. Discussions are also to
be held with government regarding fiscal incentives.
EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES
During the year 2001, exploration activities have resulted in increased
resources of more than one million ounces at Tongon and nearly 600 000
ounces at Loulo; initiation of aggressive exploration in the Morila JV
mining lease; consolidation of ground holdings (2 048km2) and definition of
12 new gold targets in the Morila region; re-establishment of activities in
Senegal including the acquisition of ground with significant drill results;
defining a new mineralised system in Burkina Faso and finally acquisition of
new properties in C te d'Ivoire within our priority areas.
The business plan for 2002 is designed to achieve the objectives of
advancing the Tongon project; locating additional Morila-style
mineralisation in Southern Mali; outlining advanced gold targets within our
portfolio of exploration permits in
four countries and defining new opportunities within our priority countries
in Africa.
During the current field season drilling programmes are planned in Burkina
Faso, C te d'Ivoire and the Morila project in Mali. At the Gougre prospect
in Burkina Faso diamond drilling (4 holes, 700 metres) is currently in
progress to test possible depth extensions to the mineralisation as defined
on surface. Shallow drilling last year returned encouraging intercepts of
19 metres @ 5.6 g/t, 8 metres @ 4.6 g/t, 14 metres @ 2.5 g/t and 15 metres @
4.6 g/t within silica-magnetite altered dacite containing disseminated
pyrite.
PROSPECTS
Randgold Resources continues to pursue new opportunities for growth that
fits its aims of producing superior returns on equity. With the strong cash
flows from Morila, two projects in feasibility and a promising portfolio of
exploration targets the company is well-positioned to generate more value.
For the forthcoming year the Company expects Morila to deliver a performance
in line with that of 2001. Keeping costs below US$100/oz will be the focus
of the Morila joint venture partners in the coming year.
The Company is planning to spend some US$9.0 million during the year on
exploration, project development and new business.
The Company's board has taken a decision to convert the currently restricted
GDR scrip to a properly tradeable and transparent instrument with open
access to all potential North American shareholders.
On behalf of Randgold Resources Limited
R A R Kebble D M Bristow
Chairman Chief Executive
8 February 2002
Registered office:
La Motte Chambers, La Motte Street, St Helier, Jersey JE1 1BJ, Channel
Islands
Registrars: Computershare Investor Services (Channel Islands) Limited, PO
Box 83 Ordnance House,
31 Pier Road, St Helier, Jersey JE4 8PW, Channel Islands
Transfer agents: Computershare Services plc, PO Box 663, 7th Floor, Jupiter
House, Triton Court,
14 Finsbury Square, London EC2A 1BR
Investor & media relations: For further information contact Kathy du Plessis
on
Telephone +27(11) 728-4701, Fax +27(11) 728-2547, e-mail :
randgoldresources@dpapr.com
Web-site: www.randgoldresources.com
Disclaimer :
Certain of the statements made in this document are forward-looking in
nature and are based on certain assumptions which involve risk and
uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that
will occur in the future. Randgold Resources undertakes no obligation to
update any forward-looking statements. Mining and exploration by its very
nature, is a risky business and one in which the producers have little
influence over the price of their product. Consequently investors should be
mindful of the inherent risks associated with all mineral development
projects.
Randgold & Exploration Company Limited
Share code : RNG
ISIN : ZAE000008819
London, 8 February - Randgold Resources today posted an operating profit
of US$46 million for the 12 months to December 2001, an increase of US$30
million on the previous year.
The results improvement came on the back of a strong performance by the
Morila gold mine in Mali, which finished its first full year of production
ahead of plan. Production totalled 631 650 ounces of gold at a cash
operating cost of US$84/oz. The company said the mined-out ore had already
been largely replaced through continuing exploration and Morila's total
resource base now stood at 5.93 million ounces against 6.02 million ounces
in 2000.
Another contributor to the company's good showing was the cessation of
operations at the Syama mine. Discussions with parties interested in
acquiring the mine are continuing but the company said the phased sale of
its plant and infrastructure was also being considered.
Meanwhile, the company is pressing ahead with its Loulo and Tongon gold
projects, which are both at feasibility stage. The Loulo feasibility study
is currently being updated in the light of significant extensions to its
resource base and the change in the gold market since the last comprehensive
feasibility was completed in 1997. The Tongon resource has also been
expanded substantially through an intensified exploration and drilling
programme and a prefeasibility study is under way there.
In addition to the resource increases at Loulo and Tongon, exploration
activities over the past year included the initiation of an aggressive
exploration programme on the Morila JV lease; the identification of 12 new
targets around Morila and the consolidation of the company's groundholdings
in that region; the re-establishment of an operating presence in Senegal;
the definition of a new mineralised system in Burkina Faso; and the
acquisition of new properties in C te d'Ivoire. In all and after
allowing for depletion the total resource base was expanded by 1.5 million
ounces and stood at 18.1 million ounces of which 11.7 million ounces was
attributable at the end of the year.
Commenting on the results, chief executive Dr Mark Bristow said 2001 had
been a year of considerable activity and achievement at the corporate as
well as the operational level for Randgold Resources.
"Morila achieved financial and technical completion, and paid its first
distribution, during the year. The mine continues to live up to our
expectations and its robust performance was one of the highlights of the
year. Another was the share buyback through which we returned some US$81
million to our shareholders - demonstrating both our commitment and our
ability to create real value for them," Bristow said, "Incidentally this was
almost equal to the sum raised at the IPO in 1997."
"With the strong cash flows from Morila, two projects in feasibility and a
portfolio of promising exploration targets, Randgold Resources maintains its
goal of being return on equity driven and will continually pursue new
opportunities."
Randgold Resources is currently looking at converting its GDR scrip into a
properly tradeable and transparent instrument to meet the demands of North
American investors. Bristow said depending on market conditions, the
company might also seek to raise capital through a rights issue or share
placement later this year.
Issued on behalf of Randgold Resources Limited by du Plessis Associates. dPA
contact Kathy du Plessis on Tel: 27(11) 728 4701, cell: (0)83 266 5847 or e-
mail randgoldresources@dpapr.com
DISCLAIMER :
Certain of the statements made in this document are forward-looking in
nature and are based on certain assumptions which involve risk and
uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that
will occur in the future. Randgold Resources undertakes no obligation to
update any forward-looking statements. Mining and exploration by its very
nature, is a risky business and one in which the producers have little
influence over the price of their product. Consequently investors should be
mindful of the inherent risks associated with all mineral development
projects.
For further information call:
(Chairman) Roger Kebble +27 (11) 309-6037
(CEO) Mark Bristow +44 (0) 779-775-2288
