TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The stock of the world’s largest gold miner by market capitalisation, Goldcorp, on Thursday trended in negative territory, as investors were disappointed by a bigger-than-expected third-quarter loss, as lower metal prices weighed on the company's bottom line, despite record output.
For the three months ended September 30, the Vancouver-based miner reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of $192-million, or $0.23 a share, compared with a net loss of $44-million, or $0.05 a share, for the third quarter of 2014.
TSX- and NYSE-quoted Goldcorp reported headline earnings of $37-million, or $0.04 a share, compared with $70-million, or $0.09 a share, for the third quarter of 2014. This included a reduction in the carrying values of inventory stockpiles of $40-million, or $0.05 a share.
Analysts had on average expected Goldcorp to earn $0.04 a share on an adjusted basis to remove special items.
Free cash flow rose to $243-million, compared with negative free cash flow of $355-million in the comparable quarter of 2014.
Goldcorp reported record output for its operation in the period, lifting gold production 42% over the year-earlier period to 922 200 oz. Total sales were 942 600 oz at an average realised gold price of $1 114/oz, compared with sales of 641 400 oz at an average realised gold price of $1 266/oz a year earlier.
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) were $848/oz for the quarter compared with $1 066/oz in the same period of 2014. Excluding noncash inventory impairments at Los Filos and Peñasquito, both located in Mexico, AISC for the third quarter of 2015 would have been $802/oz, Goldcorp advised.
Silver output reached 11.3-million ounces over last year’s 7.8-million ounces in the quarter.
Higher-than-expected folding and faulting at the Éléonore mine, in the James Bay region of Quebec, had resulted in Goldcorp revising the young mine’s 2015 production guidance downwards to between 250 000 oz and 270 000 oz. Earlier estimates were between 290 000 oz and 330 000 oz.
Goldcorp expected to hit the upper end of its full-year production guidance of between 3.3-million ounces and 3.6-million ounces, at AISC of between $850/oz and $900/oz.
The company's NYSE-traded stock fell by more than 8% on Thursday midday to change hands at $13.47 apiece.