Caledonia Mining Corp PLC on Thursday reported a lower profit due to increased production costs.

The gold producer whose main asset is the Blanket mine in Zimbabwe said pretax profit dived 69% to $12.2 million in 2023 from $39.6 million in 2022.

Revenue edged up 3.0% to $146.3 million from $142.1 million.

Production costs however increased 31% to $82.7 million from $63.0 million. Notably, on-mine cost per ounce increased 42% to $1,047 from $735.

Citing higher wages, administrative expenses increased 46% to $17.4 million from $11.9 million.

The company declared an unchanged dividend of 14 US cents per share.

The company said that the operating and financial performance at the Blanket mine has been in line with its own expectations in the first quarter of 2024. Caledonia Mining is continuing with exploration activities at the Motapa gold exploration project in southern Zimbabwe.

Caledonia Mining shares were 2.9% lower at 820.50 pence each on Thursday afternoon in London.

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