08:35 AM EST, 02/22/2019 (MT Newswires) -- Kirkland Lake Gold (KL.TO) late on Thursday said its fourth-quarter profit more than doubled as production topped guidance and costs dropped by nearly a third.

The company said its net income rose to US$105.54 million, or US$0.50 per share, from US$40.98 million, or US$0.20, in the fourth quarter of 2017. Revenue rose 32% to US$280.32 million while all-in sustaining costs dropped 31% to US$567 per ounce.

The miner said it produced a record 231,217 ounces of gold in the quarter, up 39% over the year prior period and topping the company's guidance of 670,000 ounces.

While 2018 production of 722,277 ounces was also a record, Kirkland Lake said earlier in the day that it expected 2019 output of around 770,000 ounces, rising to about 1.025 million ounces by 2021 on rising output from its Fosterville mine in Australia.

"Fosterville had its best quarter since the underground mine opened, by a wide margin, with an average grade of just under 40 grams per tonne," chief executive Tony Makuch said in a release. "Fosterville has clearly emerged as one of the world's greatest gold mines, one that we believe is not yet close to reaching its full potential."

Kirkland Lake shares closed up $3.71 to a record $47.72 Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Price: 47.72, Change: +3.71, Percent Change: +8.43