Exhibit 99.1
DRDGOLD LIMITED
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number: 1895/000926/06)
ISIN: ZAE000058723
JSE share code: DRD
NYSE trading symbol: DRD
(“
DRDGOLD
” or the “
Company
” or the “
Group
”)
TRADING STATEMENT
AND TRADING UPDATE
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2021
In
terms
of
paragraph
3.4(b)
of
the
JSE
Limited
Listings
Requirements,
companies
are
required
to
publish a
trading statement
as soon
as they
are satisfied,
with a
reasonable degree
of certainty,
that
the financial results
for the current reporting
period will differ
by at least 20%
from the financial
results
of the previous corresponding period.
DRDGOLD
is
in
the
process
of
finalising
its
results
for
the
year
ended
30
June
2021
(“
Current
”)
and
shareholders
are
accordingly
advised
that
the
Company
has
reasonable
certainty
that
it
will
report
earnings
per
share
(“
EPS
”)
and
headline
earnings
per
share
(“
HEPS
between 160.1 cents and 176.5 cents
compared to EPS and HEPS of
82.5 cents and 82.4 cents
for the
year
ended
30
June
2020
(“
Previous
Corresponding
Period
”),
respectively,
being
an
increase
of
between 94% and 114%.
The expected increases
in EPS and HEPS for the Current Reporting
Period compared to the Previous
Corresponding Period are due mainly to movements in,
inter alia
, the following items:
1.
Revenue
Revenue increased by R1,084.0 million, or 26%, to R5,269.0
million (2020: R4,185.0 million).
Ergo Mining
Proprietary Limited’s
(“
Ergo
”) revenue
increased by
R878.7 million,
or 29%, to
R3,943.0
million (2020: R3,064.3 million),
due mainly to a
20% increase in the
Rand gold price received
as well
as a 7% increase in gold sold. Volume throughput increased
by 13% to mitigate a 6% decrease in yield
due mainly to the previously reported depletion of high
-grade reserves available to the Knights plant.
Far West Gold Recoveries’ (“
FWGR
”) revenue increased by
R205.3 million, or 18%, to
R1,326.0 million
(2020: R1,120.7 million) due mainly to a 18% increase in the Rand gold price received as well as a 1%
increase in gold sold. Volume
throughput increased
by 2% as yield remained stable at 0.237g/t.
2.
Cash operating costs
The
impact
of
the
increase
in
revenue
on
earnings
and
headline
earnings
was
moderated
by
an
increase in cash operating
costs of R446.7
million, or 17%, to
R3,072.7 million (2020: R2,626.0
million).
At Ergo, cash operating
costs increased by R392.5 million, or
17%, to R2,666.5 million (2020:
R2,274.0
million) due to
the 13% increase
in volume throughput
,
an increase in
the use of
reagents and
a 15%
increase in the cost of power in April 2021.
At FWGR,
cash operating
costs increased
by R54.2
million, or
15%, to
R406.2 million
(2020: R352.0
million) mostly as a result of
increased costs associated with milling,
which was not operational for
the
whole of the previous corresponding period.
3.
Weighted average number of ordinary shares
EPS and HEPS
increased notwithstanding
the full-year impact
on the Current
Reporting Period of
the
issuance
of
168,158,944
shares
to
Sibanye
Stillwater
Limited
at
an
aggregate
subscription
price
of