JOHANNESBURG: South African miner Gold Fields Ltd on Thursday reported a 20% rise in full-year profit, boosted by higher production and firmer price of the commodity.

The gold miner's headline earnings per share (HEPS) - the main measure of corporate profit in South Africa - rose to 100 US cents for the year ended Dec. 31, from 83 cents last year.

The company announced a final dividend of 95 South African cents ($0.0634) per share, taking the full year per share dividend to 470 cents.

Its production for the year increased by 5% to 2.34 million ounce in 2021, placing the miner amongst the top eight global gold producers. The company aims to produce between 2.25 and 2.29 million ounce in 2022.

Spot gold may rise into $1,893-$1,900 range

Gold prices have declined from the peak of August 2020, forcing miners to bring down costs and increase production to push profits higher. But with increasing inflation at a time of peak production levels, it is unclear if they would manage to maintain profits.

Gold Fields said its all-in sustaining cost (AISC) - a metric to measure overall production cost - rose to $1,063 per ounce for the year, and the company projected a further increase to $1,140-$1,180 per ounce for 2022.