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(Wallace Refiners) – The third-quarter earnings season for the precious metals mining sector continues to fire on all cylinders, with Wheaton Precious Metals reporting record revenue and cash flow.
Monday evening, the precious metals streaming company reported adjusted net earnings of $152 million, or $0.338 per share, a more than 100% increase compared to third-quarter earnings reported in 2019.
“Wheaton’s high-quality portfolio of assets generated nearly $230 million in operating cash flow in the third quarter alone, resulting in a record of over $555 million in the first nine months of 2020. Given Wheaton’s unique dividend policy, the strong cash flow in the quarter resulted in a 20% increase in our dividend,” said Randy Smallwood, president and chief executive officer of Wheaton Precious Metals. “In addition, production in the third quarter rebounded strongly following temporary suspensions of some operations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the prior quarter, and the Company is on track to meet the higher end of our guidance.”
The company reported revenue of $307 million in the third quarter of 2020, an increase of 37% compared to the same quarter last year. The company said that it saw a 35% increase in the average realized gold equivalent price and a 2% increase in the number of gold equivalent ounces sold.
Although the company sold more gold equivalent ounces in the third quarter, its production was slightly lower between July and September than production during the same quarter last year. The company said that gold equivalent production totaled 171,370 ounces, down nearly 7% from last year.
The healthy revenue helped reduce net debt by $231 million, resulting in a net debt position of $278 million, the company said.
The company did report a small rise in costs. It said that average cash costs in the third quarter were $445 per gold equivalent ounce, up compared to $417 in 2019.
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