JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA -- (Marketwire) -- 10/07/10 -- AngloGold Ashanti's (NYSE: AU)
has completed the elimination of its gold hedge book, providing the company
and its shareholders with full exposure to the prevailing gold price. The
company will now sell the gold it produces at market prices and therefore
expects to enhance cash flow and profit margins as a result of removing
hedge contracts with low committed gold prices.
'We've moved decisively to eliminate the hedge book,' Chief Executive
Officer Mark Cutifani said. 'The completion of the hedge book restructure
over the last three years has created about US$4.0 billion of value for our
shareholders and represents one of the major building blocks for the new
AngloGold Ashanti. We remain bullish on the outlook for gold and will now
benefit from full exposure to the price as we go forward.'
The cost of scheduled hedge book maturities during the third quarter of
2010 was approximately US$98 million. The additional cost of closing out
all future hedge contracts amounted to approximately US$2.63 billion,
representing an average buy-back price of US$1,300 per ounce for this final
tranche of the hedge restructure. The cost will be reflected in adjusted
headline earnings for the last two quarters of 2010.
This final phase of hedge restructuring has been funded with proceeds from
the issue of new equity and the mandatory convertible bonds completed in
September, as well as cash from internal sources and debt facilities.
AngloGold Ashanti has consistently executed a strategy to reduce its
outstanding gold hedging position in recent years. A number of initiatives
have been undertaken to accelerate this reduction of the hedge book from
11.3 million ounces at the beginning of 2008, to 3.22 million ounces in
June 2010.
In September 2010 AngloGold Ashanti successfully completed a concurrent
offering of equity and mandatory convertible bonds, raising gross proceeds
of approximately US$1.6 billion in order to help fund an elimination of its
residual gold hedge book. This has now been achieved.
All of the financial information contained in this document has been based
on AngloGold Ashanti's financial statements that are prepared in compliance
with International Financial Reporting Standards. This document does not
constitute or form part of and should not be construed as, an offer to sell
or issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy or acquire securities of
AngloGold Ashanti or any of its subsidiaries in any jurisdiction or an
inducement to enter into investment activity.
Certain statements made in this communication, including, without
limitation, those concerning AngloGold Ashanti's strategy to reduce its
gold hedging position including the extent and effects of the reduction,
the economic outlook for the gold mining industry, expectations regarding
gold prices, production, cash costs and other operating results, growth
prospects and outlook of AngloGold Ashanti's operations, individually or in
the aggregate, including the completion and commencement of commercial
operations of certain of AngloGold Ashanti's exploration and production
projects, the resumption of production at AngloGold Ashanti's mines in
Ghana, the completion of announced mergers and acquisitions transactions,
AngloGold Ashanti's liquidity and capital resources, and expenditure and
the outcome and consequences of any litigation proceedings or environmental
issues, contain certain forward-looking statements regarding AngloGold
Ashanti's operations, economic performance, financial condition and our
Project One performance targets. Although AngloGold Ashanti believes that
the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are
reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to
have been correct. Accordingly, results could differ materially from those
set out in the forward-looking statements as a result of, among other
factors, changes in economic and market conditions, success of business and
operating initiatives, changes in the regulatory environment and other
government actions including environmental approvals and actions,
fluctuations in gold prices and exchange rates, and business and
operational risk management.
For a discussion of certain of these factors, refer to AngloGold Ashanti's
annual report for the year ended 31 December 2009, which was distributed to
shareholders on 30 March 2010. The company's annual report on Form 20-F,
was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States
on 19 April 2010. AngloGold Ashanti undertakes no obligation to update
publicly or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to
reflect events or circumstances after today's date or to reflect the
occurrence of unanticipated events. All subsequent written or oral
forward-looking statements attributable to AngloGold Ashanti or any person
acting on its behalf are qualified by the cautionary statements herein.
AngloGold Ashanti posts information that is important to investors on the
main page of its website at www.anglogoldashanti.com and under the
'Investors' tab on the main page. This information is updated regularly.
Investors should visit this website to obtain important information about
AngloGold Ashanti.
Contacts
Alan Fine (Media)
Tel: +27 (0) 11 637- 6383
+27 (0) 83 250 0757
E-mail: Email Contact
Stewart Bailey (Investors)
Tel: +1 212 836 4303
+27 (0) 82 330 9628
+1 646 338 4337
E-mail: Email Contact
