Harmony Gold earnings jump 87% as record gold prices lift miner

Harmony Gold reported headline earnings per share of 43.63 rand ($2.73), up 87% on record gold prices.

"Operating costs remained controlled," Boipelo Lekubo, financial director at Harmony Gold, said. "Excluding CSA and royalties, group operating costs increased 7%, below our planned mining inflation rate of 10%."

The average gold price received rose 35% to ZAR2.1 million per kilogram, while gold all-in sustaining costs increased 13% to about ZAR1.2 million per kilogram. That pushed the all-in sustaining cost margin to 42%, up from 31% in the prior year. Revenue climbed 34% to ZAR99.2 billion, and net profit rose 102% to ZAR30 billion.

Harmony declared a final dividend of 7.50 rand per share, lifting the full-year payout to 12.80 rand, or ZAR8.6 billion. The company ended the year with ZAR8.6 billion in cash, liquidity of ZAR17.1 billion and net debt of ZAR852 million, a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 0.02 times.

Gold production reached 1.43 million ounces, marking the 11th consecutive year the company met its guidance range. Underground grades came in marginally above target at 5.83 grams per ton. Reported results included a ZAR9.6 billion gold hedge loss, ZAR1.4 billion in acquisition-related costs and ZAR8.9 billion in tax, partly offset by a ZAR2.8 billion impairment reversal at South African mines.

Copper Expansion Targets Growth

Harmony's copper business contributed 18,200 tonnes from the CSA mine in Australia, acquired in October 2025, at a C1 cash cost of $2.47 per pound. The company expects CSA production to rise to about 30,000 tonnes in fiscal 2027, 34,000 tonnes in fiscal 2028 and 40,000 tonnes in fiscal 2029.

At the Eva Copper project in Australia, Harmony maintained its capital estimate of $1.55 billion to $1.75 billion and targets first production by the end of calendar 2028. The project is expected to produce an average of about 60,000 tonnes of copper and 19,000 ounces of gold annually over a minimum 15-year mine life. Harmony spent $275 million on Eva in fiscal 2026 and expects to spend $650 million to $680 million in fiscal 2027.

For fiscal 2027, Harmony guided for gold production of 1.3 million to 1.4 million ounces and gold all-in sustaining costs of ZAR1.3 million to ZAR1.395 million per kilogram. Capital spending is planned at ZAR14.4 billion for gold assets, ZAR2.1 billion for CSA and $650 million to $680 million for Eva.

The record dividend and low debt give Harmony flexibility to fund its copper expansion without diluting shareholders. Investors will watch the fiscal 2027 interim results for progress on Eva Copper environmental approvals and CSA ramp-up.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.