Russia's Polymetal ups 2014 output forecast by 5 pct
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian precious metals miner Polymetal (POLYP.L) has raised its 2014 production forecast, it said on Wednesday, after reporting a 17-percent increase in first-half output.
The London-listed firm said its gold equivalent production reached 652,000 troy ounces for the first half of 2014.
"The original (2014) production guidance of 1.3 million ounces is likely to be exceeded by approximately 5 percent," it added in a statement. Gold equivalent is a measure of gold and other metals expressed in units of gold.
Revenues at the company, part-owned by Russian tycoon Alexander Nesis, fell 3 percent in the second quarter of 2014, year-on-year, to $389 million. Fellow Russian businessman Alexander Mamut and Czech investment group PPF own minority stakes in Polymetal.
Its free cash flow generation is expected to be significantly stronger in the second half of the year due to planned destocking at its Mayskoye deposit in Russia's far east and the seasonal reduction of the gap between production and sales, Polymetal said.
(Reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Maria Kiselyova)
