Centamin Gains Most In Three Weeks In London On Gold Production

Centamin Plc (CEY), a miner of gold in Egypt, rose the most in more than three weeks in London trading after producing more of the metal than it previously forecast.

Centamin advanced as much as 10 percent, the steepest intraday gain since Dec. 17. Full-year gold output rose 30 percent to 262,958 ounces, beating its guidance of 250,000 ounces, the company said today in a statement. Centamin has been hurt by delays in Egypt since last year’s uprising that led to the ousting of former national President Hosni Mubarak.

It’s “an impressive end to the year,” Numis Securities Ltd. said in a note. Still, “the cloud of political and corporate issues are likely to continue to dog the stock.”

Centamin fell 52 percent last year and 53 percent in 2011.

The company, operating Egypt’s Sukari mine, halted mining three times last year on labor disputes and supply problems.

The stock dropped as much as 59 percent on Oct. 30 after Egypt’s administrative court issued a preliminary ruling to annul its 18-year-old concession agreement with the government.

Joint venture partner, the state-owned Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority, said it would appeal the decision.

“The team at Sukari has delivered a very strong set of operating results, with a record output for the quarter,” Chairman Josef El-Raghy said in the company’s statement.

Bloomberg