Vancouver — South Africa’s biggest gold producer felt the impact of a falling U.S. dollar in the first quarter.
Stronger local currencies against the U.S. dollar took their toll on costs, margins and earnings. Most of AngloGold’s production comes from South Africa, where the local currency, the rand, is trading near 3-year highs against the greenback, affecting South African mining firms, which draw most of their earnings in international currencies but pay costs in rand. The South African currency averaged R8.35 to the U.S. dollar during the first quarter and has strengthened even further in recent weeks: at R7.25 to the U.S. dollar, it is about 40% higher than at the beginning of 2002.
AngloGold actually received a higher gold price in U.S. dollar terms, up 9.2% to US$344 per oz, from US$315 per oz. a year earlier. However, in rand terms, it slumped to R91,962 per kilogram, compared with R96,911 in the previous quarter.
Gold production fell 9% in the first quarter to 1.4 million oz., from 1.5 million oz. in the fourth quarter of 2002. Driving the shortfall were lower grades, particularly at the Morila and Geita mines. The firmer local currencies and lower grades also caused total cash costs to rise, by 21% to US$210 an oz., from US$151 per oz. in the fourth quarter.
“We expect AngloGold’s earnings for the June quarter to remain under pressure as a result of the exchange rate together with lower grades and mining volume,” says CEO Bobby Godsell. “We do however anticipate a gradual recovery by the fourth quarter.”
AngloGold, which is the most-hedged of the three major South African gold producers, reduced its hedge book by a further 9% during the quarter to 9.34 million oz. The mark-to-market value of all hedge transactions stood at negative US$251.5 million on March 31, and negative US$154.9 million at April 29.
The company is a 51%-held subsidiary of
Be the first to comment on "AngloGold hit by currency exposure (May 12, 2003)"