Newmont Corp NGT-T on Thursday fell short of Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit, as the world’s largest gold miner struggled with lower prices and increased costs.
Average realized gold prices fell 2.2 per cent to $1,758 per ounce in the quarter from a year earlier, while all-in sustaining cost for gold, an industry metric that reflects total expenses associated with production, rose 15 per cent to $1,215 per ounce.
For 2023, Newmont has given a production guidance between 5.7 and 6.3 million gold ounces and guided for all-in sustaining cost between $1,150 and $1,250 per ounce.
Miners had to grapple with higher fuel costs, as well as labour shortages in 2022.
On an adjusted basis, the company posted a net income of 44 cents per share for the October-December quarter, compared with the average analyst estimate of 46 cents. Revenue for the quarter fell by 6 per cent to $3.2-billion compared to the year before.
Earlier this month, Australia’s Newcrest Mining Ltd rebuffed Newmont’s $16.9-billion takeover bid, but left the door open for a better offer.
A source familiar with management’s thinking previously told Reuters that Newmont was open to sweetening its offer.
Denver, Colorado-based Newmont said attributable gold production for the fourth quarter edged up to 1.63 million ounces from 1.62 million ounces in the previous year quarter.