Niël Pretorius

FLAMBOYANT former DRDGold CEO Mark Wellesley-Wood once opened a results presentation by playing rock group Pink Floyd’s ‘Money’ where the lyrics include “Money, it’s a gas. Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.” Current CEO Niël Pretorius could well be justified in reprising that wry anthem to capitalism, or he could opt for another rock ‘n’ roll classic: “Come on, baby, let the good times roll.”

The fact is, DRDGold is raking it in, hand-over-fist thanks to the gold price. Shareholders are not yet seeing the full benefits from Pretorius and co in terms of improved dividends as cash flow is being ploughed back into a major expansion programme. The cost of renewing reserves has tended to hold back DRDGold’s share price in the past, but it all changed in August when Pretorius delivered the 2025 final results presentation. On the face of it, he said little new at that presentation, merely recommitting to the firm’s R10bn expansion programme with an eye on big-time delivery from 2028 in terms of higher production and lower costs.

This time, however, it seems investors listened and are starting to believe. Up to that point, shares in DRDGold clawed their way up to around R30 over the previous two years. But they then promptly took off, going north of R50 within weeks, living up to DRDGold’s ‘Roodepoort Rocket’ sobriquet of Wellesley-Wood. Watch out for DRDGold’s major shareholder Sibanye-Stillwater this year. Its CEO Richard Stewart said he would like “more exposure to DRDGold at some point in time”.