HEDGING
Harmony looks for further hedges to bolster cash buffer
Harmony is looking for more hedging opportunities to buffer the company and allow it to invest in growth
Harmony Gold is trying to replicate its successful forward gold sales and currency hedging exercise that gave it cash at a critical time to invest in growth. This would also give the company space to return four mines to profit in the coming months. Harmony, which declared a final dividend of 35c per share for the financial year to June, posted impairments of R1.72bn against its Kusasalethu, Tshepong and Target 1 mines. Target is one of the four mines the company intends returning to profit this financial year. Harmony posted a net profit of R362m for the year compared with R949m a year earlier. The R1.75bn flowing into its coffers from the gold and currency hedges, as well as R998m in deferred taxes, provided financial respite for the company. Harmony was actively looking for more hedging opportunities to buffer the company and allow it to invest in growth, as it had done during the 2017 financial year, said Harmony chief financial officer Frank Abbott. Harmony is pouring $110m int...
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