Barrick Gold sees profits rise in quarter but misses analyst expectations

TORONTO – Barrick Gold’s (TSX:ABX) first quarter results fell short of expectations despite swinging to a profit of US$679 million compared to a net loss of US$83 million in the same quarter last year.

The gold mining giant said that once adjusted, net earnings came in at US$162 million or US$0.14 per share, compared with US$127 million or US$0.11 per share in the first quarter of 2016.

The results fell short of the analyst consensus of US$224 million in net income and earnings per share of US$0.20, according to Thomson Reuters.

Revenue for the first quarter came in at US$1.99 billion, also below analyst expectations of US$2.17 billion.

The company also revised down its production outlook for the year to between 5.3 and 5.6 million ounces gold, compared with the 5.6 to 5.9 million ounces it had previously expected.

Barrick said two-thirds of the reduced output is because it’s selling a 50 per cent stake in its Veladero mine in Argentina, where it has run into operational challenges.