MOSCOW - Polyus, Russia's largest gold producer, on Wednesday reported third-quarter net profit down 61 percent from a year ago to $144 million due to foreign exchange losses and other non-cash items.
The company controlled by Said Kerimov, son of Russian tycoon Suleiman Kerimov, has not been targeted by the U.S. sanctions against Moscow. Washington included Suleiman Kerimov and some other Russian businessmen on its sanctions list in April.
Polyus said its 2018 production was on track to come in at the upper end of its expected range of 2.375-2.425 million troy ounces of gold.
Its new Natalka gold deposit in Russia's far east contributed $9 million to Polyus's third-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), which rose 13 percent to $537 million. Natalka's EBITDA margin was at 27 percent.
Polyus also said that its third-quarter total revenue rose 12 percent to $832 million and that its 2018 total cash costs (TCC) were now expected to be below $400 per troy ounce compared with the previous forecast of below $425 per ounce.
(By Polina Devitt; Editing by Louise Heavens)