Barrick boosts earnings as full-year gold and copper production falls

Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) credits a rising gold price and a strong fourth quarter as it recorded adjusted net earnings of US$1.5 billion, up from US$1.3 billion in the same period of 2002. That allowed the company to declare a quarterly dividend of US10¢ per share.

Despite production picking up in the latter half of the year, Barrick couldn’t quite make up for the challenges it faced in the first half, president and CEO Mark Bristow said. As a result, gold production fell slightly short of the annual guidance as flagged when the company released its third quarter results.

Full-year 2023 production was 4.05 million oz. of gold with a realized price of US$1,948 per oz. That compares with 4.14 million oz. of gold at a realized price of US$1,795 in 2022. All-in sustaining costs per oz. produced were US$1,335 per oz., up from US$1,222 per oz. a year earlier.

Copper production was 420 million lb. with a realized price of US$3.85. The company produced 440 million lb. in 2022 at the same realized price. All-in sustaining costs in 2023 were US$3.21 per lb., up slightly from US$3.18 a year earlier.

Bristow said there was a year-on-year increase in operating cash flows of 7% to US$3.7 billion and free cash flow was up by 50% at US$646 million. Net earnings increased by 200% to US72¢ per share, and adjusted net earnings were up 12% to US84¢ per share.

This allowed Barrick to reduce its debt by 1% to US$4.7 billion, despite cash and equivalents dropping 7% to US$4.2 billion.

“In true Barrick fashion, we kept our focus, dealt with the challenges, progressed our long-term strategic plans and delivered on some of our key objectives. Most significantly, we have sustained our industry-leading organic growth outlook and are still projecting a 30% increase in gold equivalent production by the end of this decade,” Bristow said.

Barrick has also begun a share buyback program that will see it repurchase up to US$1 billion of the company’s outstanding common shares over the next 12 months at prevailing market prices.

Barrick shares ended the day down less than 1% today at $19.04 in Toronto.