harare24dmin Gold prices are soaring globally reaching historic highs and offering miners a rare window of profitability Zimbabwe’s RioZim has delivered a shocker of a financial report for the year ended 31 December 2024. Instead of capitalizing on the bullish gold market, the company has somehow managed to burn deeper into losses, how ?
According to its published FY24 results:
Revenue fell by a staggering 40% to $475.52 million.
Gross loss stood at $171.44 million.
Operating loss ballooned by 156% to $628.21 million.
Loss before tax increased by 177% to $767.99 million.
Loss for the year totaled ZWL $628.47 million.
And no dividend was declared, unsurprisingly.
The question that naturally arises is: How does a gold mining company with a core product that’s appreciating dramatically end up with a 40% drop in revenue and a 156% surge in operating losses?
Either RioZim is facing extreme operational inefficiencies, mismanagement, or more concerning something murkier is at play.
RioZim owes its shareholders, stakeholders, and the broader market answers. The market fundamentals with gold at a record high should have provided a cushion, if not a windfall. Yet this miner seems to be moving in the opposite direction of logic and market trend.
At this point, it is fair if not urgent to ask: Is RioZim up to no good? Is the company hiding something beneath the surface of these disastrous results? With numbers that defy both industry norms and economic logic.
The mining sector in Zimbabwe cannot afford this kind of opacity, especially not from a company with such a critical role in the gold value chain.
RioZim must explain itself and fast.
