Russia's Polyus first-quarter net profit steady
10/05/2017 11:01
MOSCOW, May 10 (Reuters) - Polyus Gold PLZL.MM , Russia's
largest gold producer, reported $203 million in adjusted
first-quarter net profit on Wednesday, little changed from a
year earlier due to higher debt servicing charges.
Polyus, controlled by the family of Russian tycoon Suleiman
Kerimov, is in talks to sell a stake to a consortium led by
China's Fosun International Ltd 0656.HK and is also
considering a secondary share offering. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1HW1A3
Including foreign exchange gains, one-off items and other
financial instruments, the company's profit jumped 70 percent to
$499 million while revenue climbed 19 percent to $609 million.
In the first quarter last year, Polyus had adjusted net
profit of $201 million.
Polyus said its net debt fell to $3.13 billion at the end of
March from $3.24 billion at the end of 2016 after it sold its
stake in a gold asset, though higher debt service charges than
in the first-quarter of 2016 weighed on net profit.
It did not give details of its debt service charges. Earlier
this year, Polyus raised $800 million with a six-year Eurobond.
The company's main greenfield project is the large Natalka
gold deposit in the east of Russia, which it plans to launch by
the end of 2017. It also acquired the giant and largely untapped
Sukhoi Log gold deposit in Russia earlier this year.
The company said its capital expenditure was up by a third
to $128 million in the first quarter, mainly driven by the
ongoing work at the Natalka gold deposit.
(Reporting by Katya Golubkova; editing by David Clarke)
((ekaterina.golubkova@thomsonreuters.com; +7 495 775 1242;))
Keywords: RUSSIA POLYUS/RESULTS