LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - South Africa and Ghana-focussed Goldplat reported a combined operating profit of £1.47m for its third quarter on Friday, making for a 36% decrease compared to the same period a year earlier, excluding listing and head office costs and foreign exchange losses.
The AIM-traded firm said the combined operating profit for the operating entities for the nine months ended 31 March, meanwhile, decreased 20% to £4.84m.

It put the decline in operating performance down to a reduced performance in South Africa, where the company recorded a decrease of £1.18m, and in Ghana, where it reported a decrease of £0.3m.

Despite the reduced operating performance, the firm said it expected to meet current market expectations for the current financial year.

Goldplat Recovery Ghana (GRG) faced delays in the export of its product due to the finalisation of its gold licence renewal, required for export.

The licence had been approved by the Minerals Commission of Ghana, but the final signature from the regulated authorities was taking longer than expected.

Goldplat said the situation had resulted in the accumulation of inventory on site since the previous licence expired at the end of January.

However, once the new licence was signed, accumulated inventory would be sold, which was expected to lead to non-recurring higher sales volumes in the fourth quarter.

Goldplat Recovery, meanwhile, reported an operating profit of £1.18m for the period, which was an improvement from the previous quarter, although production in the lower-grade circuits was impacted by electricity cuts from the power provider in South Africa.

The South African operation lost 19 operating days - 20% of the total days available in the quarter - due to electricity cuts and infrastructure-related issues.

Goldplat said it was exploring mitigating actions and viable power generation solutions to minimise the impact on the business.

The company estimated that it would require a further £1.15m, including £0.25m for the tailings storage facility, during the next nine to 15 months to be spent on repairing and maintaining current operations, completing the tailings storage facility, and improving the environmental impacts of its current operations.

It said it was also assessing the economic and environmental feasibility of the fine coal recovery technology company it invested in.

Goldplat's cash balances remained strong at £2.75m at the end of the third quarter, with "significant" balances invested in inventory and debtors with main exposures to smelters in Europe and South Africa.

The firm said it had been experiencing longer-than-expected delays at one of the smelters, but remained "comfortable" with the outturn.

"I am pleased with the operating results achieved by the group, considering some of the difficult circumstances we've experienced during the third quarter in South Africa and delays of the gold licence in Ghana," said chief executive officer Werner Klingenberg.

"The impact of the gold licence should be in a position to be reversed out once we can export the material produced on site, however the electricity supply issues in South Africa will continue to have a significant impact into the fourth quarter."

At 1028 BST, shares in Goldplat were flat at 9p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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