I will now hand over to Perseus Mining Managing Director and CEO, Jeff Quartermaine, who is joined by Chief Financial Officer, Leanne de Bruin. Thank you, Jeff.
Good. Thank you. And welcome everybody to this webinar to run through the December half year financial results That we released to the market earlier today. I'm looking at these results, I think that it's fairly clear. I'm reading that they provide further evidence So the continuing transition of Perseus from a junior explorer to a multi mine, multi jurisdictional business.
And I'm very pleased To welcome my colleague, Lierre Bruin, our new CFO here in our Perth office, who is going to make a group presentation, take you Without any further ado, Diane, would you take it away, please?
Thanks so much, Jeff, and thanks, everyone, for joining us today. It's great to say that I'm not able to present these results for the December twenty half year. I point out obviously the normal cautionary with forward statements made in this presentation. Overall, we've had a fantastic solid half year performance during what has been a difficult, obviously, period with the global pandemic, and this has been supported by a strong gold price environment. The Perseus has had a solid operational performance during the 6 months, producing 130 137,386 ounces, and this is 2% more than the corresponding 6 months last year.
This is comprised of 55,900 ounces from Sysingway, 78,790 ounces from Edikan And then a very exciting step for us with 2,687 ounces on our newly commissioned Yaare mine. The group all in flight cost was sitting at US1 $1,000 per ounce for the 6 months December, and this was 6% up on the December 90.5 years and achieved during a very challenging year. This achievement no doubt positions Perseus well in relation to our guidance of 6 months And for our full year guidance to June 21. Our gold price achieved was USD16.43 per ounce As we focus on leveraging the current high spot prices, whilst maintaining a focus on increasing the average price of the overall hedge book as part of our short to medium term risk management. We are also extremely proud of the project and operational teams at the Iara who Succeed in delivering the Perseus 3rd gold mine during the challenges of a global pandemic, and they did this ahead of schedule and on budget.
And we are now positioned for growth in all aspects with the exciting step of Yara ramp up and Abiquenius is excited about the future. If I move on to the next slide, these are our financial highlights. If we talk about the revenue, The revenue, we sold 127,085 ounces of those 137 odd ounces we produced in 6 months. And this resulted in a 4.5% increase over our previous 6 months in 2019. This revenue was a result of a 15% reduction in the production at Edikan, which was largely due to the lower recovery rate primarily caused by the planned feed of ore on the Bikitsi pit.
The reduction of Edikan was higher offset by an exceptional 31% increase in gold produced at Sissingway. And this is due to an increase in the headway from 1.57 grams per tonne to 2.78 We also obviously were aided by an increased weighted average gold price for the year or for the 6 months should I say of 18% increase. A positive obviously was our profit after tax, which we achieved, which has a 61% increase in the same period last Yes, at AUD 49,100,000. To just give a little bit of color to that, What aided that was we had a period on period decrease of $32,500,000 in the depreciation and amortization expense relating to gold production. And this is largely due to the decreased ore mined at Sissingue and Edikan in the period and as a consequence, the deferred waste amortization in the period.
We also had a foreign exchange loss of $13,200,000 against the previous period, which recorded a $7,000,000 The loss occurred due to an appreciation in the value of the Australian dollar against the U. S. Dollar and obviously the impact on the revaluation of all of our intercompany loans. The taxation expense decreased by $4,500,000 and this is largely due to the decreased profits in Edikan due to the reduced production when compared to the 6 months to December 2019. And further on that slide, it's probably worth noting is that obviously, we are not obviously paying a dividend at this stage, but we considering future dividend policies now that we are positioned with a strong balance sheet and with broad asset diversification.
Moving on to our growth and earnings slide. If we focus on the EBITDA number, Which is obviously in line with December 2019. This is obviously assisted by the revenue number, which I've already spoken to. And there was an increase in cost of sales, which was largely due to the order supply cost or production cost balances of Edikan increasing due to the decreased recovery. Our gross profit from operations achieved AUD18.5 million, an exceptional 68.3% increase on the same period last year.
As mentioned previously, this is largely due to a period on period decrease of 2,500,000 in the depreciation and amortization expense relating to gold production due to the GPP's ore time environment in the period. This has allowed us to report a basic earnings per share increase of 18%. And importantly, a focus for us, a strong earnings per ounce, is up 59%. Obviously, key growth is obviously cash flow generation. And so this slide sort of sets Our operating cash flow per share was up 36% and as long as a key focus with shareholder returns.
Perseus has continued to deliver a positive trend in operating cash flow from operations comparing the last 4 December 6 months reporting period. And this has been supported by strong operational performance as well as increasing gold prices. The introduction of Yaare, Huertes' 3rd gold mine, Focusing on our growth in net tangible assets. On hand at the end of December, We had US118 $1,000,000 or AUD 153,000,000 of cash and bullion. In terms of the borrowings, Perseus continues its focus on building a strong balance sheet to support its growth aspirations.
During the 6 period 6 month period, We made an accelerated payment of $20,000,000 on the current corporate facility, and we will focus over the next coming months and Yes, on accelerating this debt reduction. This has left us with a net debt position at the end of the 6 months of AUD 15,700,000 and with the end of the development of our Yahure, our 3rd gold mine, So overall, that's an exciting set of results, And I'm going to pass on to Jeff Quartermaine to focus on the looking forward.
Okay. Thanks very much, Dan. I think it's fairly evident that the results that we've released today are quite strong, but they are just part of An overall trend of certainly increasing earnings and cash flow that we believe is going to continue very strongly in the coming periods, particularly boosted by the material contribution that will be coming from our 3rd mine, Yaiori, starting in this half year. As you're aware, the construction of Yaohori was completed late in December half and the operations are steadily ramping up to optimal performance continue the growth of the business through both organic means and also to be positioned to take advantage of any M and A opportunities That may present and offer attractive returns on our investment. Although I should say that at this point in time, our focus is very much On organic growth and given that we will have a significant reduction in capital expenditure going forward, It is such a step reduction that Leanne spoke to a few moments ago and, of course, prepared for the implementation of A dividend policy which we are working on at the present time and expect to be in the position So as a result, the results today are quite strong.
We are in a very good position. We're very well focused to the future. And I have to say that it does reflect the very famous efforts of our teams, both here in our corporate office and also on each of our sites in West Africa. All of our people have worked with great dedication and commitment during a period of Significant uncertainty and challenge brought about by COVID. And with that, of course, too, this put a bit of a load on their families.
So I thank all of our employees and all of their families and their support teams who have brought their efforts during the half year in making these results So thanks very much. That ends the presentation. And if there are any questions Relating to the releases or any of the documentation that's in the market, Leanne and I are more than happy to respond. So
Your first question comes from Reg Spencer. He asked, Are there any further updates on likely timing of commercial production at Yaiori?
Not a specific date on that particular one, but I can You'll recall that in our quarterly report, we mentioned that we needed to replace the transformer. That is actually going in as we speak. It We're exceptionally well so far on the SAG mill. So from the end of this month, we'll be running the SAG and the ball. And I think the acceleration from here is going to be quite rapid.
So we said originally that we were targeting the end of this quarter, And that certainly remains our target. Whether we're able to achieve it or not will depend on how things go over the next couple of weeks. But if it isn't the end of this quarter, it will be the end of April, I would think. So we're well and truly on track. Everything is going very well on the site.
Your next questions come from Kate McCutcheon at Citi. So there's Three accounting questions. The first one is regarding the reduced D and A at Sissingue. Can we expect similar dollar per ounce rate going forward? Or is it the 3rd amortization of transient?
No. We can't expect that to be the system. It's obviously a function of the reduced mining existing waveform period.
Yes. And bear in mind, we will be opening up the satellite deposits shortly, so Bembe also and the like. And then there is some stripping associated with that. So Over the remaining life, we'll see some fluctuations up and down. But I think this is just part of the ebb and play.
And for instance, we expect to see the Edeka production significantly higher than what it was in the last half year going forward as well. So There will be ups and downs, but with Sissugy, in particular, we will be moving into that Pembiaso deposit later this year.
Next one, trying to reconcile the COGs, which are lower than consensus. Are there any inventory write ups included in that
Is that sorry, can you repeat the question? Is that around cost of sales?
Our COGs.
Yes. So if you go to note 2 in the financials, there is included in the December 2019 financials, there were considerable write ups in that, which obviously haven't occurred in the current Financial or the current 6 months, if that answers Kate's question. Sure.
And third one, and the payments to noncontrolling To the non controlling interest, can you talk through that uplift and how we should model that going forward?
Yes. So during the 6 month period, we Obviously, it's a function of the income assisting way. I'm just trying to have a look at the numbers that you're referring to. So yes, so and obviously during the period, we also have paid a dividend To we've obviously paid a dividend to out of PMDI, out of Sysengue, they paid a dividend to The PML operation? So yes, we'll obviously consider to that non controlling just to stay consistent with that number.
Yes. I mean the The way we repatriate cash from these operations is through 2 weeks. 1 is through payment with the company debt And the other is through dividends to our minority shareholder. And there is The debt from Singa is largely repaid. There is a small amount outstanding, and that will be repaid in due course.
And so that doesn't appear On the accounts, the repayment of that of the company debt has consolidated. But once that is repaid, then there will be we will be using that mechanism to the dividend stream to repatriate money to the parent company. And of course, when a dividend gets declared, The government of Cote d'Ivoire received 10% of that dividend. So I think in terms of modeling the cash
And In terms of upcoming news, can we expect updated life of mine plan from Yaiori and feasibility study for Begawi in early June quarter?
Yes. Look, both of those exercises are underway. We have been delayed. We originally were targeting the end of March for the release of those, but the Turnaround of assays from the lab in Yamasutro has been quite slow in the early part of the year. So We're now thinking that both of those documents will be released in the June quarter, hopefully.
Hopefully, end of April or maybe early May. It just depends on how quickly we can get this get these drill assays back. But that's all well at hand, and The results from both places are looking reasonably strong. There are certainly the results coming from Bagway, Which represents the opportunity you've said in the life of Sesimi are very good and certainly Confirm everything and then some on what we expected to see when we made that acquisition last year. So That's particularly encouraging, and we're looking forward very much to getting that feasibility study done and getting an application
Your next question is from Adam Saines. He asked, can you please provide some advice around the company's forward sales hedging policy.
Yes. Look, the hedging policy that we have is Fairly clear, and it has been very clear for a very long time. Our policy provides for us To forward sell up to 30% of our production on the 3 year horizon. That's the upper limit of it. At the present time, we're hedged to the tune of about 20%.
And the thing is that we manage that hedge position quite actively. We As opportunities provide, we sell it to the lower price hedges and we replace with higher price hedges. We won't be going above the 30% level without a change in policy, and that's not something we're contemplating. We may Increase the hedging a little above 20% in coming periods depending on what the opportunity is. But I mean, for instance, if we were to go ahead with The Sarta South underground development, which is actually looking more interesting than it was at the end of last year, we may well at least Take the opportunity there to do a small amount of hedging to ensure that we can lock in that margin of $400 an ounce that we target as part of our overall corporate Strategy side, we sit at about 20% hedges at the present time.
As I say, we're only going over 30%. And I guess if anyone really wonders about the wisdom of it, well, what I would just simply refer to you, too, is the gold price in the last week. Now The consensus view has been that the gold price is going to stay stronger for longer, and we certainly hope that is the case. But we can't decide on the fact that From time to time, the market does retrace, and we did see we have seen quite a sharp fall in the last week or so. So if anyone needed any reminding about The fact that gold goes up and down, we've had that reminded quite recently.
This hedging is in place to provide us with certainty In an uncertain environment, and it is something that we have used very carefully over time. And it certainly put this company in very good stead when the gold prices haven't been as strong as they are today. And the fact of the matter is that while our average hedge prices, I think, is sort of about $15.40 at the end, something like that. We are selling 80% of our production at spot price. So it's not like we're giving away very much on the upside.
So we're very comfortable with the policy. It's done, served us very well over time, and we'll be continuing to deploy that as we go forward.
Thank you. Your final question comes from Adam Baker, anyhow, what type of dividend policy is under consideration, e. G, percentage of revenue or percentage of free cash flow?
Sorry, could you just repeat that? I missed it.
From Adam Baker, and he asked what type of dividend policy is under consideration, For example, percentage of revenue or percentage of free cash flow?
Look, we're considering all possibilities right now. In fact, we had a board meeting last But what we would say is this, when we do pay a dividend, it's going to be paid with the intention of being in a position to sustain that Into the future without any concern from fluctuations of gold prices or etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. So We won't be declaring a super large dividend initially. I think what we would like to do over a period of time is to grow that dividend stream. But the one thing that we do want to do is to make sure that when investors buy if investors buy our stock for that dividend So that they will be assured of getting it come what may.
But there is a very careful examination going on right now. We're We're looking at conventional dividends. We're also giving thoughts to whether share buybacks make more sense, There are a number of variations on the thing. Bear in mind that our shareholding base is an international base. So The last 40% of the U.
S, roughly 30% in Europe and 30% here in Australia. And the tax implications for each of those shareholding groups are different. So in coming up with a policy, we're going to work towards coming up with something that It's beneficial for the majority of our shareholders. And we'll let the market know more details as we are able to do that.
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. So I'll hand back to Jeff Quartermaine for closing remarks.
Okay. Thanks, Nathan. Well, thanks once again, ladies and gentlemen, for joining us today. It is a fairly solid result, and I can assure you that Perseus in a very, very strong position now to move forward now that we have the 3 mines up and running. And we're looking very much So I look forward to bringing further results to the market, not only financial results, but obviously operating results within the next one of those, of course, will be The March quarter results, which will be published in April.