Oceana Gold's share price has plunged 66% from its year-high of $4.50 last October, falling to a more than four-year low of $1.52 yesterday.
A bullish market update by Oceana chief executive Mick Wilkes yesterday, outlining positive operations and exploration opportunities in the Philippines, did nothing to alleviate a general selling of Oceana's stock amid other resource company sell-offs in Australia, New Zealand and Asia in recent weeks.
Shares in resource giant Newcrest Mining hit a nine-year low yesterday on the ASX, trading down to $A9.96 ($NZ11.80), while global spot prices for gold recovered some losses of recent days to trade up at $US1271 ($NZ1631) yesterday.
Shares in Australia of dual-listed Oceana were down 8% on the ASX yesterday, large volumes being traded on both bourses, almost 1.8 million on the ASX and almost 280,000 on the NZX.
Craigs Investment Partner broker Peter McIntyre said Oceana, New Zealand's largest gold producer, was in the best position of all the Australasian mining stocks to bounce back from the sell-off.
''Oceana just can't escape the sell-off of Australasian gold mining companies' [shares], but they're in the best position for some form of recovery,'' he said.
Unlike Oceana, Newcrest had more problems than just the declining spot gold price, as it carried large acquisition debt, which was causing ''balance sheet woes'' for the company, one of Australia's largest gold producers.
Oceana's update yesterday outlined how copper production at its new Philippine mine was offsetting gold production costs there, and also rising costs in New Zealand, which gave it better profit margins than most competing producers.
''It could be up to a week before the market absorbs this information,'' Mr McIntyre said.
Mr Wilkes said Oceana was ''in a very strong position relative to its peers'', and future success in the Philippines and elsewhere ''should also lift the share price''.
''We will also be looking to add to mineral resources around Didipio, in other parts of the Philippines and in other countries,'' Mr Wilkes said.
He pointed to strong cash flows, exploration opportunities and increased scrutiny of New Zealand operations to reduce gold-production and other ongoing mine costs. On the NZX Oceana shares finished down 4% at $1.53 yesterday.
Oceana had $A100 million ($NZ118.4 million) of convertible bonds maturing in December this year and was fully funded for repayment, Mr Wilkes said.
Oceana could use free cash flow to pay for some of the bonds and also had a term credit facility which could be drawn down to pay for bonds in the absence of any other cash, he said.
The repayment of the convertible bonds, maturing in December 2013, was fully funded, Mr Wilkes said.
