Petropavlovsk swings to loss on poor gold prices

27th Aug 2015 12:09

(ShareCast News) - Russian gold producer Petropavlovsk swung to a first half loss but predicted higher second half production.Shares in the miner were up by 0.75% to 5.74p at 1224 BST, as the company posted a £26m loss, from a pre-tax profit of $8.3m the year prior.Petropavlovsk said its profits due to lower gold prices and it was concentrating on reducing costs.The company said it would reduce its total average cash costs of production in 2015 to lower than $600 oz at current exchange rates.The miner said its first half total gold production was in line with guidance at 240,200 oz, while its expected second production to be "significantly higher" than the six months before.