Evolution Mining says it could look at further boosting dividend payouts given its strong growth outlook for the next few years.
Australia's second largest gold miner by output has doubled its final dividend to two cents a share, despite swinging to an annual loss of $24.4 million.
That is down from a $100 million profit in 2014/15, and includes amortisations and one-off costs related to recently acquired mines.
Evolution's underlying profit in the year to June 30 more than doubled to $227 million, on the back of record production and a favourable Australian dollar gold price.
The gold miner's revenue also doubled to $1.33 billion, helped by its acquisition of the Cowal mine in NSW and Mungari mine in Western Australia in 2015.
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Executive chairman Jake Klein said the company's performance was not only sustainable, but should improve, and shareholders would see the rewards with increasing payouts.
"If prices stay where they are, and we continue to generate cash, it is not our intention to build up large amounts of cash on the balance sheet," he said.
"While we are optimistic on the gold sector, we are building a business that is not dependent on gold prices continuing to rise."
Gold prices slumped to six-year lows in 2015 but have recovered more than a quarter so far in 2016, as uncertainty in global markets drives investors to safe-haven assets like bullion.
"The outlook for the next few years for our business is quite strong," chief financial officer Laurie Conway said.
"We will continue to direct excess cash to reduce our debt, even though we are now comfortable with our gearing ratio."
Evolution has downgraded its 2016/17 production guidance following this week's sale of its Pajingo gold mine in Queensland to Chinese-owned Minjar Gold for up to $52 million.
It now expects production of between 745,000 and 800,000 ounces of gold. All-in sustaining costs are also expected to drop to between $970 and $1,030 per ounce, compared to the previous guidance range of $985 to $1,045 per ounce.
Evolution Mining shares dropped 17 cents, or 6.4 per cent, to $2.48.
EVOLUTION MINING'S ACQUISITIONS PUSH IT INTO THE RED
* Net loss of $24.35m vs $100m profit
* Underlying profit more than doubled to $226.9m
* Revenue up 100pct to $1.33b
* Final dividend up 1 cent to 2 cents a share
