CNMC Goldmine Q3 profit surges to US$2m on gold prices

CNMC Goldmine Holdings's third quarter net profit surged to US$2 million, more than eight times the US$235,611 profit posted a year ago, due to gold bars being sold at record prices, the absence of listing expenses and a one-off Malaysia tax reversal.

The group said it sold gold bars at an average price of US$1,494.95 per ounce compared with US$1,205.02 in 2018's third quarter.

For the three months ended Sept 30, earnings per share was 0.49 US cent versus 0.06 US cent.

Revenue slipped 3.6 per cent to US$11.1 million from US$11.5 million following a 22.3 per cent drop in production volume and the rise of production cost to US$1,137 per ounce of gold from US$952 a year ago.

The rise in production cost was mainly due to lower gold output and higher capital expenditure for underground mining, and for additional mining infrastructure, the group said.

The gold producer declared a dividend of S$0.0020 per ordinary share after reporting improved earnings. It did not declare a dividend for the same year-ago period.

As at Sept 30, it had US$16.74 million in cash and cash equivalents.

CNMC Goldmine CEO Chris Lim said: "Our financial performance so far this year has been encouraging. We are doubling down on efforts to ensure our expansion plans are executed well so that we can sustain the growth momentum."

The Catalist-listed firm's shares closed down S$0.005 or 1.9 per cent to S$0.26 on Monday.