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Goldplat PLC on Friday declared a dividend as it reported increased profit for the first quarter due to a higher gold price. The gold miner and producer with recovery operations in Ghana and South Africa said the two recovering operations combined achieved an operating profit of £2.1 million in the first quarter to the end of September, up 13% from £1.8 million a year prior. The firm said the finance cost and foreign exchange gains incurred in the first quarter mainly related to trading activities. This resulted in a combined pretax profit excluding listing and head office costs of £2.4 million, up 63% from £1.5 million. The Ghanaian operations benefited from an increased gold price, as pretax profit for the first quarter rose 20% to £1.1 million from £901,000. This included a foreign exchange gain of £282,000 as the Ghanaian cedi weakened against the US dollar. In South Africa, pretax profit more than doubled to £1.2 million from £550,000, due to an increase in material supply from South America, a one-off transaction with a supplier, improved cost management and an increasing gold price. The firm declared an interim dividend of 0.1171 pence per share, compared to none a year ago. Goldplat said it intends to assess the distribution of dividends on a quarterly basis going forward. ‘The group had a strong operating quarter supported by the high gold price and good supply from South America and once off supply in South Africa. As stated previously, our operations remain sensitive to continuous supply of gold bearing material, which has been impacted by the decree on export of gold-bearing by-products in some West African countries and changes in primary gold operations in South Africa,’ said Chief Executive Officer Werner Klingenberg. ‘The board remains confident in the fundamentals of the business and continues to progress strategic initiatives to improve long-term performance and enhance shareholder value through establishing sustainability in Ghana after the changes in the business model, progressing the approval of the [tailings storage facility] pipeline, increasing market share in South Africa and expanding in Brazil.’ Shares in Goldplat were up 4.7% at 9.68 pence on Friday morning in London. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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