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MOSCOW, April 29 (Reuters) - Russia-focused gold minerPetropavlovsk saw its net loss narrow to $348 million in2014 because of lower operating costs and impairment charges,the company said on Wednesday.
The London-listed miner, hit by a fall in gold prices since2013, completed its debt refinancing plan in March and hopes todecrease its net debt to below $600 million by the end of 2015from $707 million at the end of March.
"This was a period in which we re-engineered the group inthe light of the lower gold price, and secured the immediatefuture of the business," Peter Hambro, chairman ofPetropavlovsk, said in a statement.
"Looking ahead, we are forecasting four years of stable,low-cost production and a balanced programme of further net debtreduction and selected investments."
Petropavlovsk's 2014 net loss compared with a $713 millionnet loss in the previous year and was largely attributable tonon-cash items such as foreign exchange losses, the companysaid.
Its adjusted net profit from continuing operations totalled$4.4 million in 2014 compared with a $1.5 million loss in 2013.
The company said it was still on track to produce between680,000 and 700,000 troy ounces of gold in 2015, of which112,800 ounces had been produced in the first quarter. Its 2014output totalled 624,500 ounces. (Reporting by Polina Devitt; editing by Elizabeth Piper)
