DRDGOLD, South Africas fourth largest gold producer, has been suspended on the Australian bourse following the delay in filing its first-half audited results. The delay in finalizing the audit review is due to transitional issues associated with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which has been complicated by recent corporate restructurings undertaken by the DRDGOLD group, the company stated in a release. DRDGOLD has already released its unaudited financial statement for the period and plans to file the audit-reviewed accounts in the next few weeks enabling it to have the suspension lifted, the company added in the statement.%% Shares in DRDGOLD, slid 7.9% to 8.00 rand in Johannesburg after the news was released, but recovered to 8.40 rand, a fall of 3.3%. The firm said the suspension would not affect trading in the firms shares on other exchanges such as Johannesburg, the U.S. Nasdaq and in London. The company also revealed that due to low volume trading and in keeping with its intentions to refocus on its African operations, it has plans to delist from the Australian bourse.%%Last month Chief Executive Officer Mark Wellesley-Wood had informed that shareholders in DRDGOLD and Emperor Mines Limited (Emperor) had approved proposals to vend DRDGOLD’s offshore assets into Emperor. “This creates the third-largest gold producer listed on the Australian Stock switch over. On completion of the transaction, DRDGOLD will have an approximate 88% stake in Emperor and receive US$30 million in cash,” said Wellesley-Wood.%%Group net operating profit for the six months ended 31 December 2005 increased by 6% to R41.7 million compared with the previous six months. Group attributable gold production was 18 per cent lower at 2,65,887 oz, reflecting both the discontinuation of the North West Operations in South Africa and a 17 per cent decline in production from the Australasian operations to 1,26,770 oz. Gold production from the South African operations rose by 11 per cent to 1,39,117 oz.