3 Sep 2019 14:55

Highland Gold ups EBITDA 21% in H1, to pay dividend of GBP0.05/share

MOSCOW. Sept 3 (Interfax) - Highland Gold Mining Ltd., a UK-based company that mines gold in Russia, increased its EBITDA by 21% to $86.5 million in the first half of 2019, the company reported.

Analysts at BCS and VTB Capital had forecast that the company's EBITDA would only grow to $78-80 million.

HGM's net profit jumped 60% to $45.7 million.

Sales in natural terms grew 18%, to 142,600 ounces of gold equivalent. Revenue increased 19%, to $174.7 million.

Net debt grew 14.7%, to $216.9 million ($189.1 million a year before). Its ratio to EBITDA was 1.29x at the end of June, compared with 1.38x at the beginning of the year.

Highlights, $ mln unless otherwise specified:

	H1 2019	H1 2018	Change
Sales, 'ooo oz of gold equivalent	142.609	121.174	17.7%
Revenue	174.676	146.897	18.9%
Operating profit	57.379	50.666	13.2%
Net profit	45.692	28.639	59.5%
EBITDA	86.541	71.424	21.2%
EBITDA margin	50%	49%	+ 1 pp
Net cash inflow from operations	72.566	65.700	10.5%
Capex	31.327	26.534	18%
TCC, $ per oz	540	536	0.7%
AISC, $ per oz	778	697	11.6%

The company confirmed its 2019 production forecast of 290,000-300,000 ounces of gold equivalent.

Highland Gold CEO Denis Alexandrov was quoted as saying, "We expect higher production levels and stronger operating cash flow in the second half, as well as continued progress on construction at our key development project, Kekura, and on our ongoing projects to improve operations at each of our existing mines."

The company will pay a dividend of GBP0.05 per share for the first half of 2019. Dividends will therefore total about $22 million, or approximately 30% of operating cash for the first half, which totalled $72.6 million. HGM's dividend policy calls for paying out 20% of this figure, but last year the company paid out 38%, or GBP0.06 per share for the first half.

The record date is September 13. Dividends will be paid on October 4.