(Reuters) - Gold miner Centamin Plc's (L:CEY) (TO:CEE) second-quarter core earnings nearly halved as it mined lower-grade ore at its only producing Sukari mine in Egypt.
The company said core earnings, or earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), fell 49 percent to $32.6 million (19.56 million pounds) for the quarter ended June 30 from a year earlier.
Revenue fell about 24 percent to about $102.6 million with the average sales price falling about 6 percent.
However, Centamin maintained its full-year production guidance of 420,000 ounces of gold, expecting a rise in quarterly production for the rest of the year as throughput increases and underground grades improve.
"Whilst underground development ore grades were below forecast, mining rates remain strong and the operation has opened up key high-grade areas for stoping," Chairman Josef El-Raghy said in a statement.
Quarterly production fell 13 percent to 81,281 ounces of gold. The company also said it would pay a maiden interim dividend of 0.87 cent per share.
Centamin's London-listed shares closed at 74.50 pence on Wednesday. They have risen more than two thirds in value since the start of the year.
(Reporting by Karen Rebelo in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)