Annual profit grew to $120.6 million from $84.3 million the previous year and would have been even higher if sales from the FTSE-100 company's new Tongon mine in the Ivory Coast hadn't been affected by the disputed presidential election in November.

"2010 was always going to be a tough year, and it proved even more difficult than expected due to technical problems related to the expansion of the Loulo complex in Mali and the unsettled situation in Cote d'Ivoire," said chief executive Mark Bristow.

Randgold's production for the year was a better-than-expected 440,107 ounces.

"We view today's numbers in a positive light, having feared production at 400,000 ounces," said Liberum Capital.

The miner said in August that 2010 output could be 5 percent lower than its original 477,000 ounce target and subsequently warned in late December that production would be further reduced by political tension in the Ivory Coast and a smaller contribution from its flagship Loulo project.

At least 260 people have been killed in the Ivory Coast after a disputed November 28 presidential vote. The electoral commission results showed Alassane Ouattara won, but the incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, backed by the nation's top legal body and the military, has refused to concede defeat.

Randgold expects its production to rise to 750,000-790,000 ounces in 2011, with output weighted towards the second half. The Loulo complex is forecast to produce only around a third of its full-year target of 420,000-440,000 ounces in the first half, Bristow said.

The group's 2011 target assumes the situation in the Ivory Coast will not hamper operations for much longer.

"The Ivory Coast should be back to normal by the end of the second quarter," Bristow said, adding that he saw no risk of losing the project.

Tongon produced 28,126 ounces of gold since production started on November 8, but only 4,698 ounces were sold in 2010. Bristow said the remainder, worth about $33 million, was sold this year.

Record high gold prices also helped South Africa's Harmony Gold more than double its earnings in the final three months of 2010, it said on Monday.

Gold rose to record highs last year on a weaker dollar and global economic uncertainty, although prices have fallen back this year.