Newmont Mining 4th-Quarter Profit Rises Sharply As Gold Prices Climb
Newmont Mining Corp., one of the world’s leading gold producers, on Thursday said sharply higher gold prices powered a more than threefold increase in fourth-quarter profit, even as sales volumes dipped.
The Denver-based miner said net income swelled to $223 million, or 49 cents per share, in the last three months of 2006 from $62 million, or 14 cents per share, in the prior-year quarter.
Revenue grew to $1.46 billion from $1.29 billion a year earlier.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast earnings of 40 cents per share on sales of $1.31 billion.
Shares rose 52 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $47.50 in premarket trading.
Gold sales dropped to 2 million ounces from 2.4 million at the same time. But Newmont’s average realized selling price surged 31 percent year over year to $619 an ounce from $472 an ounce.
The company’s cost of sales per ounce rose to $322 from $232 a year ago.
Earnings for the full year climbed to $791 million, or $1.75 per share, from $322 million, or 72 cents per share, in 2005. Revenue rose to $4.99 billion from $4.35 billion in 2005.
AP via Yahoo News
