Petropavlovsk shares plummet on loss, divi suspension

29th Aug 2013 15:25

Petropavlovsk saw nearly a fifth wiped off its market value after the gold miner plunged to a loss of 742.2m dollars and suspended its dividend payment.The company, which last year made a profit of $11m for the same period, has been hit by lower gold prices and was forced to make significant impairment charges. They knocked a total of nearly $600m off its results for the six months to the end of June.Chairman Peter Hambro said: "Like most of our fellow gold miners we have taken non-cash impairment charges against the value of our investments which reflect the lower gold price environment in which we find ourselves and these have severely affected our earnings."It said no interim dividend would be paid due to the volatile environment.Petropavlovsk did stick to its production forecast for the year and said it had reduced its debt pile by $50m from its peak of about $1.2bn in March. It expects to bring borrowings down to below $1bn by the year end.Investec analysts said: "Clearly the company remains highly geared and with weaker gold prices is exposed. However it has conducted some sensible hedging."Shares in Petropavlovsk were down 18% at 104p at 15:48 on Thursday.TB