Kaz Minerals on track to meet production guidance despite drop in quarterly sales
Copper miner KAZ Minerals said it was on track to meet its production guidance for the year, despite a decline in first-quarter sales.
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In the first three months of 2015, the FTSE 250 group reported a 9.9% decline year-on-year in production to 19.1 kilotonnes of copper cathode, which represented a 20.7% decrease from the previous quarter.
The Kazakhstan-focused miner said sales of copper cathode fell 13% year-on-year to 17.8 kilotonnes in the first three months of 2015, as a decline in production and a build-up of finished goods inventory had a negative impact.
In a statement released on Thursday, KAZ warned copper production could be hit by scheduled maintenance to one of its two furnaces at its Balkash smelter.
Meanwhile, lower production in the quarter saw sales of zinc in concentrate decline 20.4% in the period, while gold bar sales plunged 32.6% also because of a decline in production.
"Our East Region operations have delivered a solid start to 2015, with efficient processing of materials,” said group chief executive Oleg Novachuk.
“Copper production remains on track to achieve our guidance of 80-85 kilotonnes of cathode in 2015."
KAZ shares were down 1.05% to 254.70p at 11:07 on Thursday.