Yamana Gold Inc. chairman and chief executive officer Peter Marrone: ‘Our objective has been to become a more predictable and reliable precious metals company.’MIKE CASSESE/Reuters
Yamana Gold Inc. reported on Wednesday higher quarterly profit and revenue compared with a year ago and said it expects to see at least a 20-per-cent increase in production this year.
The precious metals miner says earnings for the last three months of 2012 were $169.2-million or 22 cents per share.
During the same 2011 period, it reported earnings of $89.6-million or 12 cents per share.
Quarterly revenues rose to a record $625-million from $568.7-million.
On an adjusted basis, Yamana's earnings were $197.4-million or 26 cents per share, compared with $184.2-million or 25 cents a year earlier.
That fell slightly shy of the 27 cents per share analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting.
The improved profits were the result of higher mine operation earnings and were partly offset by higher expenses.
"Our objective has been to become a more predictable and reliable precious metals company delivering value to shareholders through increasing our resource base, expanding production and ultimately generating cash flow and increases in cash flow," said CEO Peter Marrone.
"In the coming year, we will continue to strive for consistency and reliability in the delivery of high-quality ounces at comparatively low cost."
Yamana posted record production of 1.2 million gold-equivalent ounces in 2012, an increase from 1.1 million ounces.
In 2013, Yamana expects production to range from 1.44 million to 1.6 million, most of which will come from a full year of output from its Mercedes gold and silver mine in Mexico, an expansion at the Minera Florida mine in Chile and production ramp-ups at other mines.
For all of 2012, Yamana's earnings were $442.1-million or 59 cents per share, compared with $548-million or 74 cents during 2011. Yamana said the drop was a result of higher taxes in Chile.
Adjusted earnings were $694-million or 93 cents per share, compared to $712-million or 96 cents in 2011 on higher expenses.
Revenue was $2.3-billion in 2012, up from $2.2-billion in 2011.
Also Wednesday, Yamana announced a first-quarter dividend of 6.5 cents per share.