Impact: Neutral
Karora (KRR) announced operating and financial results for Q4/23 and FY23. For the year, EPS was $0.05, slightly down from $0.06 YoY, and below our estimates of $0.09. However, the decrease in EPS was primarily driven by a $9.2M impairment charge, $3.1M write down of historic low-grade stockpiles, and higher unit costs given the remediation of a crusher bridge failure during H2/23. Adj. EPS reflected these differences, increased by 62% YoY and beat our estimates by 134%. Annual gold sales were up 19%, while the average realized gold price increased by 7%, which led to a YoY 31% increase in revenues. As previously reported, Karora met production guidance of 145k-160k oz Au, with record FY23 production of 160.5k oz Au (read notable). Overall, we view these results as neutral, as although Karora slightly missed our Q4/23 estimates primarily due to non-recurring costs and temporary operational issues at Higginsville, it performed in line with our expectations for FY23. KRR did meet its cost guidance and we anticipate continued production growth as we move further into the year.
