Newcrest Mining has benefited handsomely from the stronger gold price, which, together with the ongoing operational turnaround, helped the miner lift earnings and restore the interim dividend.
In the December half, net profit surged to $US187 million ($243.8 million), more than double the $US81 million earned a year earlier, on revenue of $US1.8 billion, up from $1.55 billion.
An interim US7.5¢ a share dividend has been declared. A year ago, it failed to pay an interim dividend.
The price of gold received rose to $US1277 an ounce, up from $US1113, with the price of copper steady at $US2.30 a pound. Gold production rose 2 per cent to 1.23 million ounces as copper output rose by 26 per cent to 48.9 tonnes.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) surged to $US783 million from $US545 million, coming in around analyst expectations of $US770 million for the half.
The underlying profit for the half surged to $US273 million from $US63 million, which was also in line with analyst forecasts.
The group's financial performance continues to be underpinned by its Cadia mine west of Sydney, where the all-in sustainable cost of gold production ran at $US274 an ounce in the December half, well under the $US830 an ounce at the Lihir mine, $US967 at Telfer and $US935 an ounce at the Gosowong mine.
Newcrest is continuing to lift throughput at Cadia as it looks at ways at undertaking a further lift from the present throughput of around 26 million tonnes of ore to around 32 million tonnes.
At the same time, it has achieved further gains at the Lihir mine in Papua New Guinea which had been a significant drag on performance.
More to come