newswire fyi harmony/ ncm

From the Dow Jones,,,NCM needs to crank these types of results

Newswire FYI

DJ 2nd UPDATE: Harmony Gold Mining Net Profit Sharply Higher

--Harmony posts rise in first quarter profit, drop in output on year
--Says full year output target will be hard work
--Forecasts continued gold price strength

(Adds production outlook, analyst comment.)

By Devon Maylie
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

JOHANNESBURG (Dow Jones)--Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HAR.JO) Monday posted a sharp rise
in net profit in the first quarter and said it expects gold prices to continue to
strengthen.
The Johannesburg-based company said net profit rose to 478 million rand for the quarter
ended Sept. 30 from ZAR102 million the year before, helped by a higher gold price.
Harmony chief executive Graham Briggs said that the gold price was up 20% in the
quarter, from the previous three months, and that was the biggest contributor to higher
profits. But he warned that the miner remains vulnerable to foreign exchange moves as its
costs are in rand.
Briggs forecasts gold to average $1,850 a troy ounce in the miner's 2012 financial
year and said he doesn't believe it's a bubble.
Harmony's gold output fell to 328,162 troy ounces from 336,650 ounces the year
before due to a strike in August, the miner said. Briggs said the miner lost 500
kilograms of gold output due to the strike.
While the gold price rose, cash costs are also increasing. Briggs said a higher base
for electricity costs in South Africa will keep the price of producing the metal at a
higher level but said costs should decline in the next quarter. Cash costs rose in the
first quarter to $1,156/oz from $1,115 in the previous quarter.
The miner reaffirmed its previous forecast to produce between 1.45 million ounces and
1.55 million ounces of gold in 2012, up from 1.39 million ounces produced in the fiscal
year ended June 30.
Meeting the 1.55 million ounces target is "going to be hard work," Briggs
said. "It's difficult to say if we will revise out output target. We still have
time on our side."
Analysts at Macquarie said they are "encouraged" that the projects targeted
to add to the miner's growth outlook do continue to increase gold output.
Harmony is developing a new gold mine in Papua New Guinea called Wafi-Golpu. It plans
to commence initial gold output at Wafi-Golpu by 2017 and be in full production by 2023.
Briggs estimates Wafi-Golpu will need between $3 billion and $4 billion to get the mine
into full production, with that cost split down the line with Harmony's 50/50 joint
venture partner Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM.AU).
Its Wafi-Golpu asset has been the source of merger and acquisition speculation in the
analyst community. Briggs said Monday that the miner hasn't received any offer for
the Papua New Guinea mine and that he thinks the asset will "get bigger."

-By Devon Maylie, Dow Jones Newswires; +27 11 783 7848; [email protected]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 31, 2011 05:56 ET (09:56 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Monday 31 October 2011 20:56:00.000 AEST