TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Arizona-based copper, gold and oil producer Freeport-McMoRan reported a significant fourth-quarter net loss on Tuesday as it booked impairment charges of $3.1-billion, or $3 a share, on the carrying values of its oil and gas properties.
The diversified miner said it was taking aggressive actions to reduce or defer capital expenditures and other costs and had initiated efforts to obtain third-party funding for a significant portion of its oil and gas capital expenditures in an effort to maintain financial strength and flexibility in response to recent sharp declines in the oil price.
Freeport added that it was also closely monitoring falling copper markets and would be responsive to market conditions.
The NYSE-listed company had reduced its 2015 capital expenditures, exploration and other costs budget by $2-billion.
The company had a broad set of natural resource assets that provided many alternatives for future actions to enhance its financial flexibility. Further capital cost reductions, potential additional divestitures or monetisations and other actions could be pursued as required to maintain a strong balance sheet, all while preserving Freeport's portfolio of assets with attractive long-term growth prospects.
The company cut about 34% of its expected oil and gas expenditures in the 2015 capital budget, which was about $6-billion, down from $7.2-billion in 2014.
For the three months ended December 31, Freeport reported a net loss of $2.9-billion, or $2.75 a share, compared with net income of $707-million, or $0.68 a share, for the corresponding quarter in 2013.
Excluding special items, the company reported adjusted net income attributable to common stock of $257-million, or $0.25 a share, below analyst expectations of $0.35 a share on revenue of $4.94-billion.
Revenue fell 11% year-on-year to $5.24-billion.
The company reported consolidated sales of 972-million pounds of copper, 377 000 oz of gold, 21-million pounds of molybdenum and 12.1-million barrels of oil equivalent for the fourth quarter. For the full year, Freeport produced 3.9-billion pounds of copper, 1.25-million ounces of gold, 95-million pounds of molybdenum and 56.8-million barrels of oil equivalent.
The company expected to produce 4.3-billion pounds of copper, 1.3-million ounces of gold, 95-million pounds of molybdenum and 55.5-million barrels of oil equivalent during 2015, including 950-million pounds of copper, 225 000 oz of gold, 23-million pounds of molybdenum and 13.1-million barrels of oil equivalent for the current quarter.
Freeport's NYSE-listed stock on Tuesday reached an intraday low of $18.01 a share, before clawing back to $18.40 apiece in afternoon trading, still 6% down for the day.