Dallas, Texas 04/25/2014 (FINANCIALSTRENDS) – Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM) reported a steep fall of 63 percent in the net income from its first quarter on the back of drop in gold metal pricing in the international market. To offset this big drop, the second largest gold producer in the world cut production costs ruthlessly and increased its production by a small margin. Hence, the markets discounted the news of dip in income and the stock was trading 1.66 percent lower than its previous day close on 24th April.
Expressing confidence on achieving full year production forecast of 4.6 million and 4.9 million, Gary Goldberg who is Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM) Chief Executive Officer and President has been quoted to have said that, “We are building on the momentum we established in 2013 with strong cost and production performance in the first quarter of 2014. Our team drove down all-in sustaining costs by $82 million compared to the prior year quarter through sustainable cost and efficiency improvements. We are confident we can maintain this trajectory as the year progresses, as evidenced by our updated outlook for lower costs and higher production for Africa.”
In related news, speculation has gained momentum that Newmont Mining Corp, is in merger talks with globes biggest gold mining firm Barrick Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:ABX) in order to achieve economies of scale and counter the sustained drop in price of gold globally.
The other key quarter highlights of the earnings call are as follows:
Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.8 billion, as against the $2.2 billion it had reported in 2013. Net income came in at $117 million, which translates to 23 cents per share in the quarter, as against the $314 million or 63 cents it had generated in 1Q13. Average realized price of the yellow metal has gone down by 21 percent.
