Endeavour Mining PLC on Thursday reported a rise in quarterly profit despite revenue falling as gold production declined.

The gold miner, with assets in nations including Senegal and Burkina Faso, said pretax profit rose to $60 million in the quarter ended on March 31 from $51 million a year before and compared to a $299 million loss in the fourth quarter.

Revenue fell to $591 million from $689 million a year before, as earnings from mine operations fell to $189 million from $276 million.

Gold production fell 16% year-on-year to 301,000 ounces from 357,000 ounces, but realised gold price rose 7.3% from the previous quarter of $1,758 to $1,886 per ounce. However, the gold price was down from $1,891 per ounce a year earlier.

All-in sustaining cost per ounce for the quarter rose to $1,022 from $954 in the fourth quarter and from $848 a year earlier.

While operating expenses rose to $234 million from $220 million a year earlier, loss on financial instruments narrowed substantially to $73 million from $179 million.

Chief Executive Officer Sebastien de Montessus said: ‘During the quarter, we continued to deliver in line with our expectations and we remain well positioned to unlock near-term value for all of our stakeholders. We began the year with momentum and financial strength, positioning us to deliver against this year‘s capital allocation priorities of funding growth while maintaining our attractive shareholder returns programme, which has already returned $644 million since its launch in 2021.’

Looking ahead, Endeavour Mining said it is tracking in line with our guided trend ‘on the operational front’, as it expects production weighted towards the second half of the year due to mine sequencing across the group.

Shares were down 0.3% at 2,076.00 pence each on Thursday afternoon in London.

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