Barrick Gold beats expectations despite major drop in profits

TORONTO — Barrick Gold Corp. is reporting a plunge in profits due to lower production and higher costs, even as the gold miner beat earnings expectations.

The Toronto-based company says it took in US$305 million in net income for the quarter ended June 30, a 38 per cent drop from US$488 million during the same period a year earlier.

Barrick, which reports in U.S. dollars, says revenues nudged down by one per cent to US$2.83 billion in its second quarter from US$2.86 billion the year before.

On an adjusted basis, net earnings fell to 19 cents per basic share from 24 cents per basic share, beating analyst expectations of 17 cents per share, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.

CEO Mark Bristow says Barrick's Carlin complex in Nevada's Eureka County has processing constraints that need to be overcome, despite improved performances there and at a pair of mines in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo that lay a sturdy foundation for production in the second half of the year.

Last quarter, the company churned out three per cent less gold and 11 per cent less copper year over year, while the cost of sales rose by nearly five per cent to US$1.94 billion versus US$1.85 billion a year earlier.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2023.

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The Canadian Press