GRi Business, Economics
& Finance 14 - 08 - 2003
Equities continue good performance
Goldfields performs despite 5% dip in production
Gold Fields in all-time high production
Ghana Telecom to build regional offices in Koforidua
Equities continue good performance
Accra (Greater Accra) 14 August 2003 - Equities on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) on Wednesday continued to perform creditably but volumes traded remained low.
The GSE All-Share Index, the main stock index, was up by 26.55 points at 2,420.03 points, but volumes traded were low at 179,200 shares, although higher than 31,300 shares traded on Monday.
The change for the year to date ended at 73.44 per cent. There were six price changes, all positive. The Trust Bank of the Gambia leaped by ¢600 to ¢6,600; Unilever gained ¢200 at ¢8,100, Ghana Commercial bank gained ¢184 at ¢7,600 and British American Tobacco appreciated ¢50 at ¢2,050. Produce Buying Company gained ¢5 at ¢760 and SSB Bank also gained ¢5 at ¢7,505.
Market capitalization was higher at ¢9,700.84bn from ¢9,633.77bn on Monday.
The following are the last prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 460
AGC 28,650
ALW 4,000
BAT 2,050 +50
CFAO 74
CPC 630
EIC 6,600
FML 2,920
GBL 552
GCB 7,600 +184
GGL 3,600
HFC 2,650
MGL 258
MLC 600
MOGL 24,000
PAF 750
PBC 760 +5
PZ 2,253
SCB 57,001
SPPC 390
SSB 7,505 +5
SWL 285
TBL 6,600 +600
UNIL 8,1000 +200
CMLT 460
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Goldfields performs despite 5% dip in production
Accra (Greater Accra) 14 August 2003 - Gold Fields operations in Ghana performed creditably despite a 5 per cent decrease in gold production at its Tarkwa Mines. A statement issued in Accra on Wednesday and made available to the Ghana News Agency put gold production at the Tarkwa Mines down from 136,000 ounces in the first quarter to 129,000 ounces at the end of June, second quarter.
The March quarter production included an 11,000 ounces release of gold inventory from the leach pads as compared to 7,000 ounces in June. Quantity of ore crushed reduced marginally from 3,847,000 tons last quarter to 3,723,000 tons this quarter with the yield of 1.1 grams per ton, remaining constant.
For the second quarter, total operating costs increased by 3 per cent to 26 million dollars due primarily to increased grade control drilling, which combined with the 3 per cent decline in throughput resulted in a 6 per cent increase in unit operating costs from $6.68 to $7.06.
As a result, total cash costs increased by a similar quantum to $213 per ounce. Tarkwa contributed $17m to operating profit, a decrease of 15 per cent quarter on the quarter. At Damang, production increased marginally to 78,000 ounces because of an increase in mill throughput, from 1,228,000 tons to 1,309,000 tons.
Yield remained constant at 1.9 grams per tons. Total cash costs decreased from $248 per ounce to $223 per ounce quarter on quarter. This decrease was due to the increased production, allied with gold in process credit of $1.4m due to the stockpiling of some high-grade ore that could not be treated during the quarter.
Unit operating costs increased to $14.20 per ton from $13.80 per ton in the
March quarter. The net result was an increase in operating profit of 18 per cent
to $10m. Meanwhile, expansion works at the Tarkwa Mine has begun since June
2003. This will inject nearly $160m into the operations within the next eighteen
months.
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Gold Fields in all-time high production
Accra (Greater Accra) 14 August 2003 - Gold Fields Limited, the fourth largest gold producer in the world, has reported a 5 per cent increase in attributable gold production year on year to an all-time high of 4.33 million ounces from its operations worldwide.
This was in spite of a decrease in gold production for the June 2003 quarter to 1,041,000 ounces from 1,072,000 ounces in March 2003. A statement issued in Accra on Wednesday said that the net earnings for the June quarter rose by 5 per cent from $93m to $98m on its operations worldwide.
"This compares to $112m for the previous year." Exceptional items fixed at $31m, which includes a profit on the sale of investments of $34m and exceptional health care costs of $3m. Operating costs remained unchanged at $281m for the quarter, compared to $256m in the previous quarter.
The statement quoted Ian Cockerill, Chief Executive Officer, as saying: "Despite the strength of the South African Rand, as well as an excessive number of public holidays during the quarter and grade fluctuations at Kloof, it's a solid set of consistent and credible results for the full financial year and the quarter.
"Cost control has become an even higher priority, especially at our South African operations, and this is borne out by our operating teams' ability to limit increases in operating costs to only 2 per cent during the quarter."
He said since it was the policy to maintain a strong and unencumbered balance sheet, there was a further significant reduction in offshore debt from $136m at the beginning of the quarter to $42m at the end of the quarter. The company enjoyed the best-ever yearly safety performance since its inception in 1998.
Gold Fields Ghana operation contributes 30 per cent to Gold Fields
International.
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Ghana Telecom to build regional offices in Koforidua
Koforidua (Eastern Region) 14 August 2003 - The Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Gustav Narh-Dometey, on Wednesday cut the sod for work to begin on a ¢4bn Regional Office Complex for the Ghana Telecommunication Company (Ghana Telecom) at Koforidua.
The project, which is to be completed in ten months, would improve facilities, including an ultra-modern Customer Service Point, a conference room, and fibre point.
Narh-Dometey said it was the government's desire to ensure that every district capital and many rural areas were provided with adequate telecommunication infrastructure to help promote the economic and social well being of the people.
This, he said, made the Ghana Telecom to obtain a loan of $150m from Alcatel Bell in China to expand its services. The Deputy Regional Minister expressed regret that only eight out of the 15 district capitals in the Eastern Region had telephone facilities, noting that even some of those with the services such as Nkawkaw, Mpraeso, Akim Oda and Nsawam have reached their saturation point many years ago.
He called on telephone consumers to pay up their bills regularly and promptly to enable the company to expand its services. He cautioned the people to use payphone booths with care and that they should report anyone found using materials other than the company's phone cards to make calls.
The Eastern Regional Head of the Ghana Telecom, Nii Amaah Fleischer-Brock, said completion of the two-storey building would help the company expand, upgrade and modernise its network and infrastructure as well as solve the congestion at the existing offices.
The Omanhene of the New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre Dr Oti Boateng, said the facility would link the area to other parts of the world to facilitate business transactions, especially of Presidential Special Initiative (PSI) on Distance Education.
Daasebre Oti Boateng suggested to the company to enter into negotiations with
the Volta River Authority (VRA) to enable it to link up with its fibre optic
communication system. This, he said, would enhance GT's system and make way for
better services.
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