China's Zhongjin Gold Q1 profits dive

Zhongjin Gold Corp., China's largest gold producer, announced Saturday that its profits plummeted more than 66 percent in the first quarter of 2014 due to falling gold prices. The company witnessed a net profit of 130.43 million yuan (21.18 million U.S. dollars), down 66.15 percent from the same period of last year, according to its quarterly report filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The decrease was mainly attributed to the decline in sales prices of gold during the period, the report said. Earnings per share stood at only 0.04 yuan at the end of March, plunging by 69.23 percent year on year. Its total assets hit 24.96 billion yuan at the end of March, up 6.55 percent from the end of 2013. The stock price of the company dropped 0.63 percent on Friday to close at 7.92 yuan per share.