Northern Star profit jumps by 78%

Northern Star Resources has booked a half year profit increase of 78 per cent, after increasing production capacity at its Paulsens gold mine to more than 100,000 ounces per year.

The goldminer reported a net profit of $22.3 million for the six months to December 30, saying it would pay shareholders an interim dividend of 1 cent per share.

Northern Star produced 39,377 ounces of gold over the period, at a cash cost of $638/oz.

Managing director Bill Beament said the results reflected the company’s focus on benchmarks other than just production growth and cash costs.

“This is a great outcome for investors by virtually any metric they choose to measure it by,” Mr Beament said in a statement.

“With a return on equity of 30 per cent and the declaration of another dividend, it shows that gold miners can generate more than acceptable returns.

Mr Beament said the company’s focus on productivity had resulted in a 100 per cent efficiency boost over the past 18 months.

At close of trade today, Northern Star shares were up a shade under 4 per cent, trading at 104.5 cents.