RANDGOLD RESOURCES LIMITED
Incorporated in Jersey, Channel Islands
Reg. No. 62686
LSE Trading Symbol: RRS
Nasdaq Trading Symbol: GOLD
("Randgold Resources" or "the company")
SUSTAINED PROFITABILITY LAYS FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE GROWTH
London, 2 April 2009 - Randgold Resources maintained its focus on
sustainable profitability based on continued value creation in 2008
to deliver another strong performance, according to the annual report
published today.
In the report, chief executive Mark Bristow notes that, in a
challenging year, the company improved its earnings, market capital and
reserves, declared an increased dividend and expanded its operations as
well as its tangible growth prospects. Highlights included the
successful takeover of the management of the Morila joint
venture, first production from the Yalea underground development at the
Loulo complex, the completion of the preliminaries for the company's
next mine at Tongon in Cote d'Ivoire, and the emergence of the Massawa
target in Senegal as a major discovery.
Morila produced its 5 millionth ounce of gold during the year and is
currently being repositioned as a profitable stockpile treatment
operation. Loulo continued to make progress with an expansion programme
designed to increase its production some 50% by 2010."As Loulo grows, it
also becomes more complex. Its two main orebodies
already host one underground and two open pit mines, with a second
underground mine on the drawing board. In addition to running these
mines, the Loulo team has had to manage major capital programmes in the
form of the plant expansion and the Yalea underground development, and
to contend with the inevitable tie-ins and stoppages these
entailed," Bristow says."The current year is going to be another tough one
for the Loulo team
but they are committed to delivering on their plans and the record
shows their ability to stay on course through adverse circumstances."
Meanwhile work is underway on Tongon - the third mine to be built by
Randgold Resources - which is scheduled for commissioning in the
fourth quarter of 2010.
Massawa has continued to shape up as a major discovery which could well
have the makings of the company's fourth mine, slotting in behind
Tongon and extending its record of creating stakeholder value through
discovery and development.
Bristow says cost control is still a major focus area for the company
and it has managed to keep its costs, in absolute terms, below the
average inflationary increases for the industry."Our management remains
intent on improving margins in the high gold
price environment. Ultimately, of course, the best defence against
rising unit costs is to produce more ounces, which is exactly what we
plan to do," he says."Exploration will always remain the key to our
strategy of building
long term value growth. In the past year, it again proved its worth not
only by identifying or advancing future projects but also by expanding
our reserve base by one million ounces after mining depletion."
While Randgold Resources' West African base still holds great potential
for further world class discoveries, it has recently expanded its
exploration scope to encompass the gold belts located within the Congo
Craton in Central and East Africa.
Bristow says in 2008 the company also continued to strengthen its
management team, taking on additional skills in almost every sphere of
the business and developing a new generation of senior managers. "In
doing so, we have remained mindful of the need to grow the business and
maximise the benefits of a larger organisation without succumbing to
the bureaucracy and inefficiency usually associated with size in the
mining industry," he says.
Also in the annual report, chairman Philippe Lietard says the company's
2008 achievements underlined the soundness of its strategy, which is
focused on long term goals, based on organic growth and directed at
sustainable profitability."While 2009 will be another challenging year for
Randgold Resources,
with much to do on the development front, the company is securely
placed to benefit from gold's continued strength. Its robust balance
sheet, with available cash of more than USUSD250 million, gives it the
capacity to self-fund its growth projects - a very considerable
advantage in the current climate. In addition, the pressure of cost
inflation is easing, as already evident in the last quarter of 2008,
with the drop in the oil price and a generally more competitive supply
situation," he says.
The company's annual reserve and resource declaration, published with
the report today, shows a significant increase in both asset classes
through the conversion of Tongon resources into reserves, the entry of
Massawa into the resource category and the enhancement of the reserve
base at Loulo. Bristow noted in an accompanying statement that the
upgrade in quality and growth in size had been achieved through
exploration and conversion, and not by reducing the grade to increase
ounces.
SHAREHOLDER AND ADR ANNOUNCEMENT
Randgold Resources Limited has today posted to shareholders and, in
accordance with LR9.6.1R, has submitted to the Financial Services
Authority printed copies of the following documents:
* Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2008
("the Annual Report");
* Notice to Shareholders for the Annual General Meeting to be held on
5 May 2009;
* Form of Proxy for shareholders on the Jersey, Channel Islands
Register.
These documents will shortly be available for inspection at the
Document Viewing Facility (from 09:00am to 5:30pm (UK time) on every
weekday except bank holidays) which is situated at the following
address: UK Listing Authority, The Financial Services Authority, 25
The North Colonnade, London, E14 5HS.
In compliance with DTR 6.3.5R a copy of the Annual Report, Notice to
Shareholders of the Annual General Meeting and Form of Proxy is also
available to view or download in pdf format from the Randgold Resources
website, www.randgoldresources.com.
The Bank of New York Mellon ("BONY"), as the Depositary Bank of
Randgold Resources, handles all the arrangements required for holders
of American Depositary Receipts ("ADR Holders") to vote at Randgold
Resources' Annual General Meeting. ADR Holders must comply with the
instructions given by BONY. BONY will send the proxy material to all
the registered ADR Holders. Those ADR Holders who hold their ADRs
through a bank, broker or custodian, will receive the proxy material
through their own bank, broker or custodian.
ENQUIRIES
Chief Executive Financial Director Investor & Media Relations
Dr Mark Bristow Graham Shuttleworth Kathy du Plessis
+44 788 071 1386 +44 1534 735 333 +44 20 7557 7738
+44 779 775 2288 +44 779 614 4438 Email: randgoldresources@dpapr.com
Website: www.randgoldresources.com
DISCLAIMER: Statements made in this document with respect to Randgold
Resources' current plans, estimates, strategies and beliefs and other
statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements
about the future performance of Randgold Resources. These statements
are based on management's assumptions and beliefs in light of the
information currently available to it. Randgold Resources cautions you
that a number of important risks and uncertainties could cause actual
results to differ materially from those discussed in the
forward-looking statements, and therefore you should not place undue
reliance on them. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among
others, risks associated with: fluctuations in the market price of
gold, gold production at Morila and Loulo, the development of Loulo and
estimates of resources, reserves and mine life. For a discussion on
such risk factors refer to the annual report on Form 20-F for the year
ended 31 December 2007 which was filed with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC') on 25 June 2008 and
other filings made with the SEC. Randgold Resources sees no obligation
to update information in this release. Cautionary note to US investors;
the 'SEC' permits companies, in their filings with the 'SEC', to
disclose only proven and probable ore reserves. We use certain terms in
this release, such as "resources", that the 'SEC' does not recognise
and strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the 'SEC'.
Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any parts of our
resources will ever be converted into reserves which qualify as 'proven
and probable reserves' for the purposes of the SEC's Industry Guide
number 7. This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
Contact Information: Contacts: RNS Customer Services 0044-207797-4400 http://www.rns.com