Agnico-Eagle's Earnings Miss Estimate - Analyst Blog
April 29 2013 - 5:20AM
Zacks
Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited’s (AEM)
first-quarter 2013 adjusted earnings (excluding one-time items
other than stock-based compensation expenses) of 24 cents per share
were well below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 34 cents.
On a reported basis, the Canada-based mining company posted a
profit of $23.9 million or 14 cents per share in the quarter, down
from a profit of $78.5 million or 46 cents per share a year ago.
Profit fell primarily due to lower gold prices and production along
with higher cash costs.
Revenues and Operational Highlights
Consolidated revenues declined roughly 10.7% year over year to
$423.2 million in the reported quarter, but exceeded the Zacks
Consensus Estimate of $406 million. Payable gold production in
quarter declined 7.1% year over year to 236,975 ounces. Lower
production level was mainly due to the Creston Mascota heap leach
being suspended for most of the quarter.
Payable gold production at Meadowbank rose 3% year over year to
81,818 ounces in the quarter. Agnico-Eagle achieved record
quarterly throughput at Meadowbank. The Kittila mine in northern
Finland recorded an 8% decline in payable gold production to 43,145
ounces. At the KIttila mine, Agnico-Eagle expects
longer-than-planned scheduled that will impact it by about 10,000
to 15,000 ounces of production.
The LaRonde mine in northwestern Quebec logged payable gold
production of 39,073 ounces, down 10% year over year. Production at
the Lapa mine was 26,868 ounces, down 6% year over year. At the
Pinos Altos mine in northern Mexico, payable production was 46,071
ounces of gold, down 19% from the year-ago quarter.
Total cash cost jumped 24.6% year over year to $740 per ounce,
mainly due to lower by-product revenue at LaRonde, lower grades at
Meadowbank and a lack of production from the lower cost Creston
Mascota mine.
Financial Condition
Agnico-Eagle’s cash and cash equivalents stood at $264.4 million
as of Mar 31, 2013, compared with $199.1 million as of Mar 31,
2012. Long-term debt was $800 million as of Mar 31, 2013, compared
with $830 million as of Mar 31, 2012.
Cash provided by operating activities in the first quarter was
$146.1 million compared with $196.5 million in the prior-year
quarter.
Outlook
Agnico-Eagle reiterated its production guidance and expects payable
gold production in the band of 970,000 ounces to 1,010,000 ounces
for 2013 with second half of the year contributing significantly to
the overall production. Resumption of production Kittila, increased
production at Creston Mascota, the ongoing ramp up of production at
LaRonde, higher expected grades at Meadowbank, and the start of
production at Goldex will be the contributing factors.
Agnico-Eagle revised its cash cost guidance for 2013 in the range
of $735-$785 up from the previous expectation of $700-$750 to
reflect the production changes at Goldex and Kittila, as well as
changes in commodity and currency price assumptions since the
beginning of 2013. All-in sustaining costs are expected to be
roughly $1,110 per ounce.
Capital expenditures are expected to be $621 million in 2013,
reflecting an accelerated schedule at both Goldex and La India.
Goldex and La India are expected to come online ahead of
schedule. Goldex is expected to commence production in the fourth
quarter of 2013, while La India is scheduled to start production in
the first quarter of 2014. Both the mines are expected to
contribute meaningfully to growth in 2014.
Another copper and gold company Freeport-McMoRan Copper
& Gold Inc (FCX) recently released its first quarter
results. The company’s adjusted earnings (excluding one-time
charges) of 73 cents per share for the quarter beat the Zacks
Consensus Estimate by a penny but trailed the year-ago earnings of
96 cents.
Among other gold mining companies, Newmont Mining
Corporation (NEM) is expected to report its results after
the closing bell on Apr 29 and Goldcorp Inc. (GG)
is slated to release its results on May 2.
Agnico-Eagle retains a short-term (1 to 3 months) Zacks Rank #3
(Hold).
AGNICO EAGLE (AEM): Free Stock Analysis Report
FREEPT MC COP-B (FCX): Free Stock Analysis Report
GOLDCORP INC (GG): Free Stock Analysis Report
NEWMONT MINING (NEM): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
Goldcorp (NYSE:GG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Goldcorp (NYSE:GG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024