Four of the world’s top gold companies were in full “beats” mode in the second quarter, wringing more value out of their mines amid tepid gold prices.
A day after Newmont Mining Corp. reported higher-than-expected adjusted profits by extracting more gold at lower costs, Canada-based Barrick Gold Corp., Goldcorp Inc. and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. followed suit Wednesday.
“It’s the night of the beats,” Andrew Kaip, a Toronto-based analyst at BMO Capital Markets, said by telephone. “The read here is that their optimization programs are continuing to deliver and their capacity to improve their operational outlook continues to have momentum.”
Gold miners slashed spending after a five-year rout beginning in 2011, focusing instead on cutting debt and making their operations more efficient. As prices recovered from 2015 lows, they’ve been working to expand production internally, or find new assets, while keeping a tight rein on costs. Although gold futures rose last year, prices were relatively flat in the second quarter compared with a year earlier.
Barrick climbed 4.4 percent to C$21.07 at 9:37 a.m. in Toronto, while Goldcorp gained 0.2 percent and Agnico rose 4.2 percent. Here are the second-quarter highlights:
For the rest of this article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-26/barrick-gold-beats-estimates-for-production-costs-and-profit