Barrick Gold beats Q3 profit estimates on higher production, lower costs

(Reuters) -Barrick Gold Corp beat analysts’ expectations for third-quarter profit on Thursday, as the Canadian gold miner benefited from lower costs, increased production, and higher bullion prices.

The Toronto-based company posted adjusted earnings of 24 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, while analysts on average had expected 20 cents, per LSEG data.

Average prices of gold during the quarter rose 11.4% from a year earlier, with Barrick’s average realized gold prices rising to $1,928 per ounce from $1,722 per ounce year over year.

All-in sustaining costs (AISC) for gold, a key industry metric that reflects total expenses associated with production, were at $1,255 per ounce for the reported quarter, compared to $1,355 in the second quarter and $1,269 in the third quarter of 2022.

Gold production in the third quarter was higher sequentially on higher production at Cortez and Turquoise Ridge mines in Nevada and the Kibali mine in Democratic Republic of Congo.

The company said gold and copper output would be stronger in the fourth quarter, yet gold production for the year would be marginally below the low end of guidance between 4.2 to 4.6 million ounces.

Barrick’s third-quarter gold production rose to 1.04 million ounces from 988,000 ounces a year earlier. Its copper production stood at 112 million pounds, down from 123 million pounds a year earlier.

Despite higher production, quarterly revenue was $2.862 billion, falling below estimates of $2.949 billion per LSEG data.

(Reporting by Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)