Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Harmony Gold FY 2025 results presentation media call. All telephone line attendees will be in listen-only mode. If you'd like to ask a question, please key in star and then one on your telephone keypad. You may key in star and then two to leave the question queue. If you should need assistance during the call, please signal an operator by pressing star and then zero. Please note that this event is being recorded. I will now hand you over to Jared Coetzer. Please go ahead, sir.
Hi. Good morning, and thank you very much for joining us today. I'm here with the Harmony executive team, and the call will be taken by Beyers Nel, our CEO, and Boipelo Lekubo, our FD. Thank you very much. Over to you, Beyers.
Thank you, Jared. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for the Harmony results for the financial year ended 30 June 2025. Harmony's purpose is to create shared value through responsible mining underpinned by safety, sustainability, and operational excellence. This disciplined approach has delivered a decade of consistent performance, resulting in strong cash generation and a future driven by gold and copper, quality ore bodies, and collaboration. In FY 2025, we met guidance for the 10th consecutive year and delivered record free cash flows. Our high margin portfolio continues to drive earnings and support sustained shareholder returns. The key highlights for the 2025 financial year include the following. Safety remains our priority. Despite the tragic losses of life in FY 2025, Harmony have achieved an all-time low Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate of 5.39 per million hours worked.
This demonstrates continuous progress on our journey towards zero harm. Headline earnings per share increased by 26% to ZAR 23.37 or $1.29. We generated record adjusted free cash flows, which increased by 54% to ZAR 11.1 billion or about $600 million. This was driven by high recovered grades and a higher average gold price received. As a result, we have declared a final dividend of ZAR 1.55 or approximately $0.09 per share. This brings the total FY 2025 dividend payout to a record ZAR 2.4 billion. Operational excellence resulted in underground recovered grades increasing by 3% to 6.27 grams per ton from 6.11 g per ton.
Total gold production decreased by 5% to 46 tons or 1.479 million oz, in line with plans which also came in towards the upper end of the guided range. All-in sustaining costs increased 17% to ZAR 1.05 million per kilogram or around $1,800 per ounce, which was also in line with guidance. Important to note that excluding our optimized assets, all our other operations came in at an all-in sustaining cost below $1,500 per ounce and generated meaningful cash flows and strong margins. We were supported by a 27% increase in the average gold price received to ZAR 1.5 million per kilogram or just over $2,600 per ounce.
This, along with consistent production, drove a 20% increase in group revenue to ZAR 74 billion or $4.1 billion. Our balance sheet remains healthy and flexible with a 285% increase in net cash to ZAR 11.1 billion or $628 million. We have liquidity of ZAR 21 billion or $1.2 billion in cash and undrawn facilities. As we continue to de-risk Eva Copper, mineral resources have increased by 31% to 1.93 million tons of contained copper, and gold resources increased by 12% to 492,000 ounces. Harmony has substantial declared mineral resources of around 136 million ounces and mineral reserves of approximately 37 million ounces in gold and gold equivalents.
Pending the MAC Copper shareholder vote tomorrow, we expect the acquisition to conclude in October 2025. Looking ahead to our FY 2026 guidance. Production guidance remains steady at between 1.4 and 1.5 million ounces, reflecting our consistent delivery over the past five years. Underground recovered grade is expected to be above 5.8 g per ton, and all-in sustaining cost guidance is between ZAR 1,150,000 a kilogram and 1.220 million ZAR per kilogram. Let me just repeat that. All-in sustaining cost guidance between ZAR 1,150 ,000 a kilogram and 1,220 thousand ZAR a kilogram. To advance our growth prospects and sustain flexibility at our mature assets, capital guidance increases to ZAR 12.95 billion.
Important to note is that we will revisit our guidance in February 2026, pending the MAC Copper acquisition conclusion. Thank you, and we will now take any questions.
Thanks, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd like to ask a question, please key in star and then one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate that your line is in the question queue. You may key in star and then two to leave the question queue. Our first question comes from Brendan Ryan of Miningmx. Please go ahead.
Morning, Beyers. Can you hear me?
Can hear you well, Brendan. How are you?
I'm very well, and yourself. Beyers , couple of questions. First of all, could you give a bit more detail on the latest on Wafi-Golpu? Because you're very tight-lipped in your statement. Can you talk about the issues that have to be settled to get this mining permit? When do you expect to actually receive it?
Thank you, Brendan. We have got a slide on that in the presentation deck for later today, Brendan. You know, I can't go into all the individual issues that are still outstanding, but safe to say that the negotiations between ourselves and the PNG government is continuing, Brendan. We feel that you know, steady progress is being made, but there is no definitive answer yet as to you know, when we expect licensing or the Mine Development Project and the SML to be finalized. Both ourselves and Newmont are you know, continuously engaging with the government and the State Negotiating Team of PNG in order to bring that to a close, Brendan.
Okay. Beyers, you know, you're sitting on ZAR 11 billion in cash, net cash. Is that all earmarked for your various expansion projects?
When we think about our balance sheet, Brendan, it's obviously about, you know, making sure that we look after our growth prospects, you know, invest in our ore bodies and also return money to our shareholders. You know, our cash balance, you know, and the facilities that we reported on, you know, will be utilized, you know, in a disciplined manner, along the lines of, you know, making sure we, you know, continue to grow quality ounces, and we reward our shareholders and our stakeholders alongside that.
Okay. When you say in the near term, you do not expect to have to raise equity funding, do I presume that covers the Eva, the development of Eva? Or are you looking beyond that in terms of saying you will not be raising equity?
Brendan, you know, we referred to the MAC acquisition, you know, in that instance. I mean, Eva is a little bit further out. Eva would come with its own, you know, funding solution, and we will give more color on that when we do, you know, make a determination on the final investment decision, potentially later this year.
Just to confirm, the no equity funding statement, that only covers MAC.
For now, yes.
Okay. Last question. Your all-in sustaining costs up 17%. You know, if I look back over the decades, there was a pattern where when the gold price boomed, gold mining company revenues and profits boomed, and then inevitably, within two years or so, costs caught up. Do you see this happening again? Because, you know, a 17% jump in AISC, that's quite a big one.
Brendan, if you dissect the 17%, if you look at the rand value increase on the cost, it's about 9%, which is mining inflation. There was a lower production, which was planned and guided, you know, prior to the year, which had an impact on the unit cost, you know, increasing more than the 9%. Then there was an increase also as guided on our sustaining capital. You know, we spoke about, you know, additional, you know, when we did our guidance last year, monies to be spent on sustaining CapEx on certain parts of the business. Yes, if you look at normalized for the dip in production, you'll see that number getting closer to, you know, mining inflation.
What is important for us is to maintain our discipline, you know, when it comes to cost management. You know, the gold price is something we cannot control, Brendan, but costs we can. You know, safety in production, we can, and that is where our efforts are. Certainly, you know, the Harmony story has always been one of, you know, efficiency and cost discipline and cost management. We intend to keep that focus.
You feel that you can keep your costs under control going forward?
Yes, we do.
Thank you.
Thanks, Brendan.
Ladies and gentlemen, just a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, you're welcome to press star and then one to place yourself in the question queue. It appears we have no further questions in the queue. I will now hand back for closing remarks. Apologies, we do have another question coming through, and that comes from Peter Cromberge of Mergermarket. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning, Beyers and Boipelo. How are you?
Hi, Peter. Good and you?
Hi, Peter.
Good. I'm well, thank you. I just wanted to. I have a few questions relating to your balance sheet specifically. I just wanted to find out. I know the MAC deal hasn't closed yet, but whether there's any sort of visibility on what you'll be doing with the ZAR 1 billion bridge facility. Is there any sort of clarity regarding how you plan to take that out?
Peter, thanks for the question. I'm gonna ask Boipelo to take it. She's right next to me. Boipelo.
Sure. Peter, not at the moment. I think, obviously you're aware the vote, the MAC Copper shareholders are voting tomorrow, and the implementation date for the transaction is scheduled for the 24th of October. Yeah, no color on how we'll take the bridge out yet. We're just waiting for the transaction to finalize and conclude.
Thanks, Boipelo. Is there any indication of when you'll likely have an idea of well, you know, how, what, how you'll proceed?
I think once the transaction concludes, we'll share all of that.
Okay, perfect. Another question, if I may, possibly again for Boipelo. In the presentation deck, you mentioned that, I think one of the points in one of the slides mentions that there's an opportunity to lower your cost of funding. Are you? I mean, I don't know where it is. Just reading between the lines, are you envisioning some kind of debt refinancing or, what do you have in mind?
I can't share much color right now, but I think rightly so what we're looking to do, and I guess this speaks to your first question. Whatever will be value accretive, we will try and do to lower that cost of capital. I can't share more than that at the moment.
Good. Perfect. Thank you very much. Those are both my questions. Thanks, Boipelo.
Thanks, Peter.
That does appear to be the last final question. I will now hand back for closing remarks.
Thank you. In conclusion, Harmony remains committed to preserving financial strength and flexibility to fund growth and return value across commodity cycles. As we mark 75 years, we do so with pride in our legacy and confidence in our future. Thank you, everyone.
Thank you, sir.
We also welcome any reach out to our investor relations.
Great. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's event. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.