TORONTO, Ontario - Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX-K;
NYSE-KGC) ("Kinross" or the "Company") announced today that
following a lengthy review of the manner in which it has accounted
for goodwill, it has decided to obtain an independent valuation to
provide support for the evaluation of the goodwill as of December
31, 2003 and as of December 31, 2004. The $918 million in goodwill
resulted from Kinross' acquisition of mines in the TVX and Echo Bay
transactions that were completed on January 31, 2003. Although
Kinross believes that the goodwill reflected on its balance sheet
was not impaired as of December 31, 2003, there is a possibility
that the valuations may not support Kinross' belief. Accordingly,
until Kinross receives the valuations, the Board of Directors,
including the Audit Committee, is advising investors not to rely on
the financial statements or on the related auditor's report for the
year ended December 31, 2003.
If, after receiving the valuations, Kinross concludes that
goodwill was impaired as of December 31, 2003, it will restate its
financial statements as of the year ended December 31, 2003 and for
any quarterly reports that may be affected. Any impairment will
result in non-cash adjustments to reduce the carrying amount of the
goodwill in the period in which the impairment occurred and reduce
Kinross' net profit for the year 2003 by the amount of the
impairment. These non-cash adjustments will also be reflected in
the balance sheets of the Company as of each subsequent date, but
revenues, cash flow from operations, and production statistics will
not be affected.
Any restatement of the historical financial statements for the
2003 fiscal year would have no effect on Kinross' cash generating
ability or its capacity to achieve its operating plans. Clearly,
the time required to undertake the analysis will delay the expected
release of our 2004 results beyond February 15 th . We will however
release our year-end reserves and certain operating statistics on
February 15, 2005.
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information
This press release includes certain “Forward-Looking Statements” within the meaning of section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including without limitation, statements regarding the Kinross’ financial statements for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2003, potential mineralization and reserves, exploration results and future plans and objectives of Kinross Gold Corporation, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Any restatement of historical financial statements is dependant on the outcome of the independent valuation of the acquired assets, and Kinross does not know what that outcome will be. Other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Kinross’ expectations are disclosed under the heading “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in Kinross’ documents filed from time to time with the Toronto Stock Exchange, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities.