Newcrest Mining reported on Friday an underlying profit of $US872 million ($A1.26 billion) for the year ended June 30, down from $US1.16 billion a year earlier.
The flagship Cadia mine has now returned to full capacity, Newcrest Managing Director and Chief Executive Sandeep Biswas told a webcast.
"We were particularly pleased with our costs trending lower in the second half of the year, with Cadia achieving its lowest ever annual All-In Sustaining Cost of negative $US124 per ounce," he said.
"We finished the year strongly."
Newcrest shares rallied 57 cents or 3.05 per cent to $19.24 in opening trade.
Just under two million ounces of gold was produced across operations, down on the year before, at a cost of $US1,043 per ounce.
Chief Financial Officer Sherry Duhe told analysts the "solid performance" came despite COVID-19 supply chain issues and significant rainfall at Cadia.
"We also continue to retain our investment grade credit rating, which gives us good access to capital markets, if and when needed," she said.
Guidance from Newcrest points to a lift in gold production to 2.1 million to 2.4 million ounces of gold in FY23.
But Newcrest warned of continued cost pressures amid "acute inflationary pressures" across a range of input costs including oil, gas and steel, and higher wages driven by a tight labour market.
"In FY23, we estimate inflationary pressures will increase our cost base by around 6 to 8 per cent, so the short-term outlook for cost forecasts remains unpredictable," she said.
Mr Biswas said Cadia, Red Chris, Havieron and Lihir were all expected to reach key study milestones throughout FY23.
"Our track record of exploration success has also continued at Brucejack, Red Chris and Havieron, with strong drilling results supporting our view of significant resource growth potential," he said.
He said Newcrest would also benefit from a "substantial and increasing exposure" to copper, a critical metal that would allow the company to benefit from the global shift to decarbonisation.
Newcrest announced a fully franked final dividend of 20 US cents per share, bringing the total dividend to 27.5 US cents per share.