TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The world’s largest precious metals streaming firm Silver Wheaton on Monday reported a 36% year-on-year slide in profit for the three months ended September 30, as record output was offset by lower precious metals prices.

Net earnings totalled $77.1-million, or $0.22 a share, compared with $119.7-million, or $0.34 a share, for the same period in 2012.

Revenue was $166.4-million in the period, on silver-equivalent sales of 7.8-million ounces, comprising 5.7-million ounces of silver and 35 300 oz of gold. This represented a 3% increase from the $161.3-million of revenue generated in the same quarter a year earlier, mainly owing to a 52% increase in the number of silver-equivalent ounces sold, which was partially offset by a 32% decrease in the average realised silver-equivalent price of $21.26/oz versus $31.36/oz.

Analysts had expected earnings of $0.22 a share on revenues of $186.59-million.

The NYSE- and TSX-listed company reported record attributable silver-equivalent output for the period of 8.9-million ounces, comprising 6.8-million ounces of silver and 34 800 oz of gold, which was 17% higher year-on-year when compared with 7.6-million silver-equivalent ounces.

The  average cash costs also rose in the third quarter to $4.73 per silver-equivalent ounce, compared with $4.16/oz during the comparable period of 2012. Cash costs rose year-on-year mainly owing to a 412% increase in gold sales at 35 300 oz, compared with 6 900 oz, as the gold streams from diversified miner Hudbay Minerals 777 mine, in Manitoba, Vale’s Sudbury mine, in Ontario, and the Salobo mine, in Brazil.

The average cash cost per gold ounce was $386, or $6.30 per silver-equivalent ounce. This resulted in a cash-operating margin of $16.53 per silver-equivalent ounce, 39% lower when compared with the third quarter of 2012. The decrease in the cash-operating margin was largely owing to the decrease in the realised silver-equivalent price in the third quarter and increased cash costs.

Silver Wheaton declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per common share, in line with its policy to pay dividends equal to 20% of the average of the previous four quarters’ operating cash flow.

Subsequent to quarter end, the company announced an amendment to the precious metal purchase agreement with Hudbay Minerals to include 50% of the gold production from the Constancia project, in Peru, for the life-of-mine.

Silver Wheaton also said Barrick Gold’s announcement that it would temporarily suspend construction activities at its Pascua-Lama project, straddling the Argentine/Chile border, except those required for environmental protection and regulatory compliance was disappointing, but “fiscally prudent”. As a result, Silver Wheaton agreed to amend its silver purchase agreement to extend the company’s entitlement to all of the production from three of Barrick’s currently producing mines by one year until the end of 2016, and to extend the completion test deadline an additional year to the end of 2017.

Silver Wheaton recently revised its 2017 guidance to 42.5-million silver-equivalent ounces, including 210 000 ounces of gold. Silver Wheaton’s 2013 silver-equivalent output was still expected to top 33.5-million ounces, including 145 000 oz of gold.

The company also on Monday announced that it had appointed Chantal Gosselin to its board.

The firm’s NYSE-listed stock traded 2.4% lower on Monday morning at $21.08 apiece.