Shares in gold producer Gold Road Resources Limited (ASX: GOR) were up nearly 10% earlier today after releasing strong FY20 results as well as the announcement of a maiden dividend.
Gold Road is a mid-tier producer with exploration projects in the Yamarna Greenstone Belt in Western Australia’s north-eastern Goldfields. Its shares hit a peak of around $2 in July last year when the gold price was nearing record highs close to USD$2100 per oz.
Since the price of gold has been trending down over the last 6-8 months, Gold Road’s shares have followed a similar trajectory and currently trade at $1.12 at the time of writing.
Strong FY20 results
In the company’s first full year as a producer, it generated revenue of $294.7 million ($75.4 million in FY19) from 126,434 ounces of gold.
The company was profitable on an EBITDA and net profit basis, reporting figures of $170.6 million and $80.8 million respectively across the period.
Group free cash flow for the year was $105.5 million, up from an outflow of $20 million in FY20. Free cash flow was $817 on a per-ounce basis.
The balance sheet finished FY20 strong with a cash and short-term deposits balance of $126.4 million. All borrowings were repaid on 21 July 2020 making the company currently debt-free.
Maiden dividend
On the back of its results, Gold Road announced a fully franked maiden dividend for the six months to 31 December of 1.5 cents per share, representing a half-year dividend yield of 1.42%.
On the future outlook of Gold Road’s operations, Managing Director and CEO Duncan Gibbs said that “in February 2021 we announced our 3 Year Outlook at Gruyere that sees the operation lifting from 258,173 ounces in 2020 to a sustainable 350,000 ounces by 2023 (100% basis). Gruyere is a Tier-1 gold mine and we are only beginning to unlock its potential”
Are Gold Road shares a buy?
There are many ways to play the gold price, including gold-based ETFs, producers, explorers and gold bullion itself.
If I was seeking gold exposure, I’d probably lean towards producers such as Gold Road that are already generating cash, rather than an explorer which can be a lot more speculative.
In the case of Gold Road, it seems like production volumes will ramp up over the coming years, providing an additional avenue for upside potential.
That being said, your choice to invest in a price-taker like Gold Road will probably also be guided by your own expectations for the gold price over the coming years.
That’s a can of worms in itself, and the link between more money in the financial system, inflation and the price of commodities is not universally agreed upon.
For other share ideas, click here to read: I think these 2 ASX shares look good at these levels: ALU & NXT.
