TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Goldcorp, one of the world’s biggest producers of the yellow metal, on Wednesday said net earnings for the December quarter fell 27% to $405-million, as a result of certain noncash items.

On an adjusted basis, profit rose 23% to $531-million, or $0.66 per share, beating analyst estimates of $0.63.

The Vancouver-based company benefitted from higher gold prices, which offset a slight drop in quarterly gold output to 687 900 oz.

“Our record performance is the result of strength throughout the mine portfolio,” Goldcorp CEO Chuck Jeannes said in a statement.

The company, which reported adjusted earnings of $459-million in the third quarter, said in January it would lift output around 3% in 2012 to 2.6-million ounces, and a further 67% compared with 2011’s production, by 2016, to 4.2-million ounces.

Goldcorp, which is North America's third-biggest gold producer after Barrick and Newmont, operates mines in Canada, the US, Mexico, Guatemala and Argentina.

The company also owns a 40% stake in the Pueblo Viejo joint venture in the Dominican Republic, which it said will contribute 85 000 oz to its 2012 production.

Production guidance for this year remains at 2.6-million ounces, Goldcorp said.

Adjusted net earnings for 2011, at a record $1.8-billion, or $2.22 per share, were nearly double the $1-billion figure the company reported for 2010.

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