UPDATE 2-SAfrica's Gold Fields Q3 profit jumps on gold price

(Adds fresh CEO quotes, Q4 output, analyst, details)

By James Macharia

JOHANNESBURG, May 9 (Reuters) - Gold Fields Ltd (GFIJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's No. 4 gold producer, posted a 67 percent rise in quarterly headline earnings on the back of soaring prices for the metal, but output fell due to South Africa's power crunch.

Like its South African peers, which have seen production plunge owing to a power crisis, Gold Fields' output in the third quarter to end-March fell by 14 percent to 827,000 ounces.

Gold Fields said on Friday it expects output in the quarter to end-June to be between 2 to 4 percent higher than the quarter to end-March, with cash costs being about largely unchanged.

Gold Fields' output took a hit as state-owned power utility Eskom [ESCJ.UL] struggled to provide sufficient power to the mines, after a near collapse in the electricity grid in January led to a five-day countrywide mine shutdown. Eskom has since then supplied around 90 to 95 percent to mines in the country.

But Gold Fields, which in February warned it might have to shed some 6,900 jobs due to the power crunch, said it was given enough additional power to be able to keep the workers employed.

Despite the output downturn, Gold Fields' adjusted headline earnings per share for the third quarter to the end of March rose to 155 cents from 93 cents in the second quarter, driven by soaring gold prices. Headline earnings are adjusted to exclude the effects of financial instruments and foreign debt.

JP Morgan had expected Gold Fields to post adjusted headline EPS of 146 cents.