Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX): Q4 Earnings Preview 2010

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX), the world’s biggest gold producer, is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter financial results before the market open on Thursday, February 17, 2011. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of 85 cents per share on revenue of $2.74 billion. In the year ago quarter, the company reported earnings of 61 cents per share on revenue of $2.36 billion.

Barrick Gold Corporation primarily engages in the exploration, development, production, and sale of gold worldwide. It also produces copper and silver; holds interests in a platinum group metals development project and a nickel development project; and has interests in oil and gas properties.

In the preceding third quarter, the Toronto, Canada-based company's net income was $837 million or $0.84 per share compared to net loss of $5.35 billion or $6.07 per share in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted net income for the latest quarter was $829 million or$0.84 per basic share, up from $473 million or $0.54 per basic share in the prior-year quarter. Revenue surged to $2.78 billion from $2.04 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of $0.76 per share on revenue of $2.64 billion.

At its lasst earnings call in October, Barrick affirmed its original operating guidance for higher gold production and lower total cash costs in 2010, with full-year production expected to be 7.65 million-7.85 million ounces at total cash costs of about $455 per ounce, or net cash costs of $350-$360 per ounce. The company said it remains on track with its full-year copper guidance and expects to produce about 360 million pounds at total cash costs of $1.10-$1.15 per pound. Earlier, the company had projected full-year copper production of 340 million-365 million pounds at total cash costs of $1.10-$1.20 per pound.

Barrick is seeking to boost output to benefit from gold prices that have risen for 10 straight years in New York. Concern about rising inflation and currency debasement drove prices up 30 percent last year, reaching a record $1,432.50 an ounce on Dec. 7 on the Comex. 

The giant gold producer expects that its Pueblo Viejo project in the Dominican Republic will begin initial production in the fourth quarter of 2011, while its Pascua-Lama property on the border of Chile and Argentina is on track to enter production in the first quarter of 2013. The company is targeting growth in gold production to 9.0 million ounces annually within five years once both these project come onstream, it said.

Late in October, the company's board of Directors authorized a fourth-quarter dividend of US$0.12 per share, payable on December 15 to shareholders of record on November 30. The company said it has now moved from a semi-annual dividend to a quarterly dividend.

Full Disclosure: None.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX): Q3 Earnings Preview 2010

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX), the world’s biggest gold producer, is scheduled to release its third-quarter earnings before the opening bell on Thursday, October 28, 2010. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of 76 cents a share on revenue of $2.64 billion. In the year ago period, the company reported earnings of 54 cents per share on revenue of $2.10 billion.

Barrick Gold Corporation primarily engages in the exploration, development, production, and sale of gold worldwide. It also produces copper and silver; holds interests in a platinum group metals development project and a nickel development project; and has interests in oil and gas properties.

In the preceding second quarter quarter, the Toronto, Canada-based company's net income was $783 million, or 79 cents per share, compared to $492 million, or 56 cents per share, in the prior-year quarter. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 77 cents per share in the second quarter. Revenue jumped 34% to $2.64 billion from $1.97 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 72 cents per share on revenue of $2.61 billion.

At its last earnings call in July, the company said that continues to be on track to increase production from 2009 to 7.6 to 8 million ounces of gold at lower total cash cost of 425 to $455 per ounce or net cash cost of 345 to $375 per ounce. The company expects production in the second half to be modestly lower relative to the first half as it anticipates lower production from South America. The gold miner expects margin expansion to continue in the second half , which in turn should translate into higher returns on equity.

Gold, up nearly 25 percent this year, is heading for a 10th annual gain, thanks to a sustained weakness in the US dollar. Gold prices averaged $1,227 an ounce in the third quarter, a 28 per cent increase over the same period of 2009, with spot prices climbing to daily highs and hitting a record of high of $1,388.10 on October 14. The precious metal rallied as central banks and governments maintained low borrowing costs and spent trillions of dollars to stimulate economies. Looking ahead, gold demand is likely to strong due to uncertain economic outlook, high unemployment level, speculation of further quantitative easing, monetary reflation, accommodative physical policies, significant trade and current account imbalances and increased jewelry demand in India. Meanwhile,  according to the World Gold Council, central banks are expected to be net buyers of gold in 2011 for the first time in nearly two decades. Central banks had been net buyers of 7.7 tonnes of gold in the second quarter of 2010.

The company's stock currently trades at a forward P/E (fye 31-Dec-2011) of 12.99 and PEG Ratio (5 yr expected) of 1.45. In terms of stock performance, Barrick Gold shares have gained nearly 18 percent since the beginning of the year.

Full Disclosure: None.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX): Q4 Earnings Preview 2009

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX), the world’s biggest gold producer, is scheduled to release its fiscal fourth-quarter 2009 financial results on Thursday, February 18, 2010. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of 59 cents a share on revenue of $2.39 billion. In the year ago period, the company posted earnings of 32 cents per share on revenue of $2.11 billion.

Barrick Gold Corporation primarily engages in the exploration, development, production, and sale of gold worldwide. It also produces copper and silver; holds interests in a platinum group metals development project and a nickel development project; and has interests in oil and gas properties.

In the preceding third quarter, the Toronto, Canada-based company gold miner posted a net loss for the third quarter, compared to a profit in the same period last year, reflecting a US$ 5.7 billion charge related to the windup of its gold hedging program. Net loss totaled US$ 5.35 billion or US$ 6.07 per share, compared to net profit of US$ 254 million or US$ 0.29 per share in the year-ago quarter. The loss for the quarter included a non-cash accounting charge of US$ 5.7 billion related to Gold hedging program. Net income, excluding charges for the quarter rose to US$ 473 million or US$ 0.54 per basic share from US$ 404 million or US$ 0.46 per basic share in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose to US$ 2.10 billion from US$ 1.88 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to earn US$ 0.47 per share on revenue of US$ 2.15 billion.

Operating cash flow for the quarter was US$ 911 million, up 67% from US$ 544 million in the corresponding quarter last year, reflecting higher adjusted net income and lower income taxes paid as a result of the production mix and the use of tax loss carry-forwards.

For fiscal year 2009, Barrick said in November that it is on track with its full year production guidance of 7.2 to 7.6 million ounces of gold at total cash costs of US$ 450 to US$ 475 per ounce or net cash costs of US$ 360 to US$ 385 per ounce.

For 2010, the company expects production to increase to around 7.7-8.1 million ounces at lower total cash costs than in 2009.

In December, Barrick Gold announced that it has completed the elimination of all of its Gold Hedges and now has full leverage to the gold price on the industry's largest gold production and reserves. To fund the elimination of the Gold Hedges and a substantial portion of the Floating Contracts liability, Barrick issued new equity in September for net proceeds of $3.9 billion and in October issued $1.25 billion in new long-term debt securities for total net proceeds of $5.1 billion.

Gold rallied for a ninth straight year in 2009 as the Federal Reserve kept interest rates close to zero and as the U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s value, lost 4.2 percent. Gold prices hit record $1,226.56 on Dec. 3. The long-term prospects for gold remains bright. In recent times, gold prices have been boosted by persistent weakness in US dollar.The value of the dollar has fallen 35% since 2002 and 9% in the past 12 months. At the same time, financial markets worldwide continue to be on shaky ground. Supply constraints too are expected to help prices World gold production has fallen every year since 2001. Meanwhile, central banks have now become net buyers of gold after over 30 years of selling. Meanwhile, global investment demand has more than tripled in the past few years and continues to spike higher. However, prices may face pressure in the near term due to interest rate outlook.

The company's stock currently trades at a forward P/E (fye 31-Dec-10) of 13.80 and PEG Ratio (5 yr expected) of 0.61. In terms of stock performance, Barrick Gold shares have lost 5 percent over the past year.

Full Disclosure: None.