http://www.kitco.com/charts/livegold.html

cheers GF.

Proposed approximately US$238 million investment in IRC Limited
by new shareholders

Petropavlovsk PLC ("Petropavlovsk" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that in connection with the conditional approximately US$238 million investment in IRC Limited by General Nice Development Limited and Minmetals Cheerglory Limited (the "Transaction"), announced by the Company on 18 February 2013, the ordinary resolution put to shareholders at today's General Meeting was duly passed on a show of hands.

Full details of the proxy votes received from shareholders prior to the meeting for the resolution are set out below and will also be made available on the Company's website www.petropavlovsk.net.

It will probably be 200p tomorrow looking at the chart.

Westhouse Securities Buy 254.20 254.20 480.00 480.00 Retains

time to buy?

i would be inclined to say yes, except that markets are getting o'due for a sharp correction.

i was also surprised to read that iron ore prices are at a low level (can't remember how low), but i would expect that position to change ....... it is also not unlikely that gold has reached its nadir and is also due for a rebound

a "hmm!" answer

cynic as you probably know POG has hedged nearly 50% of their 2013 production so are in a strong position whether or not the price of gold falls or rises.

in that case, you are effectively betting on a rise in ore prices .....POG really have had a very bad run over the last couple of years, much of it self-inflicted

As I posted earlier (#1477), POG is not in the iron ore market any more as that particular section of their operation was spun off into a company called IRC Ltd listed in Hong Kong. As far as I am aware POG is now purely a gold producer.

just shows how behind the curve on POG i am!

POG now approaching the lows last seen toward the end of 2008.

GF - any chance of a chart in the header?

I think it has leg up to 300.
Any ideas. I plan to average down.

In my post #1480, a great deal seems to depend on whether the POX hub works, on time & on budget (FT guys were discussing this today). I also need to average down, but am assuming that may/june is going to be a rough time for equities, I think I may just wait a while yet. Not sure that the correlation between POG sp & the price of gold is relevant either, as they have hedged a certain amount of next year's production, though it makes sense to hedge imo, as the appetite for riskier investments should see the price of gold drop over the next 12 months.

Goldman Sachs forecast FTSE at 7200 in next 12 months.

When did they say this?

Canaccord Genuity Buy 235.85 235.50 800.00 590.00 Reiterates

POG is a SELL, SELL SELL

Annual Results

Highlights


2012 Results

n Total attributable gold production of 710,400oz, up 13% year-on-year and exceeding the target of 700,000oz;

n Total gold sales of 703,200oz up 4% year-on-year;

n Average realised gold price increased by 3%;

n Group revenue of c.US$1.4 billion - a c.9% increase on 2011;

n Unit costs per cubic metre of material moved and per tonne processed for 2012 were essentially unchanged across the Group;

n EBITDA US$487.7 million (US$597.1 million in 2011);

n Development and maintenance capital expenditure for the precious metals operations of US$408.2 million;

n EPS before exceptional items was US$0.54 (US$1.23 in 2011);

n Net debt at Period-end of US$1,063.3 million is in line with H1 2012 (US$1,056.1 million excluding IRC Limited, ("IRC")) compared to US$787.3 million as at 31 December 2011;

n Cash and cash equivalents at Period-end of US$159.2 million;

n At Period-end the Group had committed but undrawn loan facilities of US$153.2 million (excluding IRC);

n Exceptional items in the Period of $336.4m largely reflecting the write-down of IRC to fair value and other impairment charges; and

n Loss per share after exceptional items of US$0.85 (profit per share in 2011 of US$1.24).

2013 Outlook

n The Group's gold production target for 2013 is 760,000oz to 780,000oz, up 7% to 10% on 2012 production;

n Hedging arrangements undertaken in February 2013 in relation to c.400,000oz of gold guarantee a minimum revenue stream of c.US$664 million for the period ending March 2014;

n Group gold production for the first two months of 2013 in line with budget;

n The Group expects 2013 unit cash costs for all hard rock operations to remain approximately in line with 2012 levels;

n Development and maintenance capital expenditure for 2013 US$369 million;

n At a US$1,600/oz gold price, the Group expects net debt (excluding IRC ) for 2013 to remain broadly in line with the net debt position at the end of 2012 but decrease in 2014 in line with projected decrease in capital expenditure;

n Potential US$238 million investment in IRC by new shareholders announced in January 2013, IRC now treated as held-for-sale and expected to become an associate in 2013; and

n Final dividend of £0.07 per share proposed, comprising a £0.02 per share cash dividend and a £0.05 per share scrip dividend.

Note from SP Angel broker today:
"Petropavlovsk released an FY trading update in January so most of the headline numbers are not news – 710Koz gold production attributable (up 13%), revenues of US$1.4b based on a US$1,670/oz gold price and operating cashflow of US$270m (although that was guided for US$230m).

EBITDA was US$487m but after accounting for larger interest and tax charges, a financial loss and a number of exceptional write-downs, there was a 2012 FY loss of US$244m or 85c per share. Adjusted for the US$345m write down, profit was cUS$100m, in line with consensus expectations.

The debt position is cUS$1bn, in line with the same point last year.

Petropavlovsk is going through a transformational phase which should result in it becoming a larger producer, including of refractory ores. 2013 is the final year of major capex and net debt should be at current levels at year end.

From then on interest payments will fall and the balance sheet strengthen quickly, with the main risk (other than gold prices) probably commissioning and efficiency of the new refractory process. Given the effort (R&D investment) Petropavlovsk has put into the refractory business and its strong technical partner Outotec, we think the floation and POX plant will be a success. Production is guided for 760-780Koz in 2013."

sp in freefall atm.