Newmont posted lower third-quarter earnings due to lower gold production in the last profit update ahead of the mining giant’s anticipated November closing of a major acquisition.
The Denver, Colo., gold miner said earnings for the quarter ended in September fell to $158 million, or 20 cents a share, from $213 million, or 27 cents a share, a year earlier. Stripping out certain one-off items, Newmont posted adjusted earnings of 36 cents a share, compared with the average Wall Street peg of 40 cents a share.
Third-quarter sales fell 5.4% to $2.49 billion, short of the average Wall Street target of $2.83 billion.
In May, Newmont agreed to buy Australian rival Newcrest Mining for about $17.5 billion, the largest ever merger of gold miners. Newmont said the merger was on track to close on Nov. 6.
Newmont’s average realized price per ounce of gold was $1,920 for the third quarter, based on 1.29 million ounces of gold production. Last year, the average price was $1,691 an ounce, based on 1.49 million ounces of production.
For existing Newmont mines, the gold miner cut its production projection to 5.3 million ounces. The reduction reflects a strike at Newmont’s Mexican Peñasquito property, lower production from its Nevada Gold Mines and Pueblo Viejo joint ventures, and lower production at its Ahafo mine in Ghana due to machinery issues. Newmont now anticipates an average 2023 gold cost applicable to sales price of $1,000 per ounce, with an average all-in sustaining costs price of $1,400 per ounce.