By Rhiannon Hoyle
Newcrest Mining on Friday recorded an 11% fall in annual profit, mainly because of a lower copper price, higher depreciation and increased operating costs.
Australia’s largest-listed gold miner, which has agreed to a takeover by U.S.-based Newmont, said it made a net profit of $778 million in the year through June, down from $872 million a year earlier.
Directors of the company declared a final dividend of 20 U.S. cents a share. The total payout for fiscal 2023 of 55 cents is equal to the highest total annual dividend ever declared by Newcrest, said Interim Chief Executive Sherry Duhe.
Newcrest entered a binding takeover agreement with Newmont in May that would be the largest-ever M&A deal in the gold-mining industry. Newcrest said it expects the takeover to be completed in November, subject to regulatory approvals and signoff by Newcrest and Newmont shareholders.
Newcrest expects to pay a special dividend of $1.10 a share before that deal completes.
The Australian company said it produced more gold and copper from its mines last fiscal year, but profits were weighed by a weaker copper price, which was 14% lower than the year-prior period.
Newcrest also faced continued inflationary pressures. The miner reported a 5% increase in its so-called all-in sustaining cost for the fiscal year.
The company said it benefited from the addition of the Brucejack mine that it acquired in 2022, a higher contribution of low-cost production from its Cadia operation and the weakening of the Australian and Canadian dollars against the U.S. dollar.
“Our balance sheet remains in excellent shape, sitting comfortably within all our financial policy targets as we continued to invest in our organic portfolio of value-generating projects,” said Duhe.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
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