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Silver Lake Resources (ASX:SLR) posts soft financial results for FY22

ASX News, Mining
ASX:SLR      MCAP $1.481B
29 August 2022 16:34 (AEST)

First gold bar from CIP circuit. Source: Silver Lake Resources

Silver Lake Resources (SLR) has reported a six per cent increase in revenue to $634.6 million for the 2022 financial year.

The gold producer largely attributed the revenue figure to the sale of almost 256,000 ounces of gold equivalent at an average realised gold sale price of $2482 per ounce compared with revenue of $598.3 million from 255,573 ounces at a price of $2315 per ounce in FY21.

The increased revenue also reflects a four-month contribution from the Sugar Zone mine and improved commodity prices over the past year.

Group gold production totalled 256,538 ounces of gold equivalent with gold sales of 251,735 ounces and copper sales of 907 tonnes.

Cost of sales grew from $435.9 million in FY21 to $518.5 million in FY22, reflecting a $23.8 million increase in depreciation and amortisation, increased operating costs at the Deflector operations in WA and inclusion of the Sugar Zone operation.

The Deflector, Mount Monger and Sugar Zone operations faced increases in input costs as a result of COVID’s impact on supply chains and general inflationary pressures which drove operating costs higher.

Silver Lake saw a 21 per cent decrease in net profits to $77.7 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $267.6 million which was down eight per cent on the prior year.

The company said the statutory profit figure includes a non-cash tax expense of $37.7 million and a $28.8 million cost associated with the acquisition of TSX-listed Harte Gold.

Silver Lake completed the acquisition of Harte in February this year which gave it full ownership of the Sugar Zone mine. Importantly, this gave the company a third mining centre and entry into the “tier one” and well-established mining jurisdiction of northern Ontario, Canada.

In WA, the carbon-in-pulp (CIP) circuit was successfully integrated with the plant at the Deflector project and a second high-grade ore source was introduced. This combination resulted in a 24 and 19 per cent increase in production and sales, respectively.

At the end of the financial year, cash and bullion were $313.8 million, down five per cent from the prior year. The decrease in cash was largely attributable to cash outflows of $134.7 million related to the acquisition of Harte Gold.

Additionally, the company had $12.9 million of gold in circuit and concentrate on hand as well as listed investments of $8 million.

SLR shares were down 5.56 per cent to trade at $1.28 at market close.

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