SINGAPORE - A large jump in gold production has led CNMC Goldmine Holdings to post a net profit of US$1.26 million (S$1.58 million) for the first quarter, reversing a loss of US$0.6 million the year before.

CNMC said its production of fine gold jumped nearly five times, to 4,010.15 oz in the first three months of this year from 684.99 oz in the same period last year.

Revenue for fine gold surged six times to US$5.11 million in the first quarter, it added. This was despite a 20.8 per cent decrease in the average selling price of gold over the same period.

CNMC continued to add new mineral resources to its asset portfolio and intends to further increase its gold production.

"Typically, the first and fourth quarters of the year are much more challenging as we have to deal with various factors that may adversely impact our production, such as festive periods, less favorable climate conditions, amongst many other factors," said CNMC's executive director and chief executive officer Chris Lim.

"Despite these challenges, we managed to achieve a good set of results. We will continue to improve on our production while lowering our costs even further."