Gold Fields glitters at Top 100 Companies
● Gold Fields has proven that all that glitters is indeed gold when it was ranked No 1 in this year’s Sunday Times Top 100 Companies awards.
The ranking came as the 130-year-old diversified gold producer delivered solid results despite a challenging operating environment. Gold Fields owns the South Deep mine, its sole operation in South Africa, along with mines in Ghana, Peru and Australia, and two projects in Canada and Chile.
The Sunday Times Top 100 Companies award assesses the performance of JSE-listed companies with a minimum market cap of R5bn.
They are rated according to the performance of their share prices, assuming an initial investment of R10,000 at the closing price on August 31 2018, held for five years from September 1 2018 to August 31 2023.
In that period, Gold Fields returned R76,826 to shareholders.
Speaking at the awards ceremony on Thursday, Gold Fields interim CEO Martin Preece described the mining industry as one of long, hard winters and short, warm summers, referring to the cyclical nature of the minerals and metals industry.
“The Business Times Top 100 award recognises consistent share price performance, but I want to assure our shareholders that our company is well managed to their benefit, and more importantly to the benefit of the other stakeholders, those being our communities and people who need our support and help. Our company could not prosper if it did not take into account and seek to address some of the societal issues that impact our people, community and government.”
Preece said the company’s solid performance over the past few years could be credited to strong operational teams across its projects and mines around the world.
“We are mining at South Deep at 3,000m underground and have almost completed building a new mine on the Atacama Desert in the Andes. We have skills and diversity in our business.”
He said the recognition confirms the company’s purpose, vision and strategy: to sustainably and safely deliver gold every day.
“I think corporates globally, and critically in South Africa, continue to be a force for good and will continue to make a positive impact on our world and our great country. In the mining industry, responsible and sustainable mining is not only key to our world today but is critical in unlocking a greener future for our children and grandchildren.”
Gold Fields boasts the biggest market cap among JSE-listed mining stocks, which increased by 42% on the JSE in 2023 as the US banking crisis saw investors fleeing to gold — a traditional “safe haven” investment in times of crisis.
Mining companies dominated the Top 5 of the Top 100 Companies, underscoring the importance of the industry as the bedrock of the economy, accounting for 7.5% of GDP in 2022 and employing 500,000 people.
DRDGold took second spot, returning R73,843 to investors over the five years. In third place was Impala Platinum with a return of R71,022. Sibanye-Stillwater was fourth with a return of R41,797, and in fifth place was Harmony with a return of R34,004 to investors.
The Top 100 Companies honoured former Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson with the Lifetime Achiever Award, and Bidvest CEO Mpumi Madisa was named Business Leader of the Year.