- Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI) -2.5% premarket after reporting H1 headline earnings came in flat vs. in the year-ago period and cutting in half its interim dividend to $0.20/share from $0.40 the year before.
- The headline earnings result does not count exceptional and one-off items, including a $359M impairment charge related to the South Deep mine, GFI's only remaining South African asset.
- GFI says H1 revenue rose 3.5% to $1.35B, and revenue generated per oz. of gold rose 6% to $1,306 as all-in sustaining costs fell 1.5% to $965/oz.; total gold production fell 5.1% to 994K oz.
- H1 gold production at South Deep fell 19% Y/Y to 97K oz. because of lower volumes and reduced grades, and GFI is withdrawing its production targets for the mine.
- In a clear swipe at GFI CEO Nick Holland, South African mining minister Gwede Mantashe said the company's plan to cut ~1,500 jobs at South Deep is the result of “poor management.”
- GFI has plunged 23% in the two days since announcing its plans for South Deep.