Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ:PAAS) reported net earnings of $20 million or 13 cents per share for first-quarter 2017, up from the year-ago profit of $1.9 million or a penny per share. Higher net earnings reflect stronger mine operating earnings, partly offset by high cost of sales.
Barring one-time items, adjusted net earnings were 6 cents per share for the quarter, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 8 cents.
Revenues rose 26% year over year to $198.7 million in the reported quarter, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $185 million.
Total cash costs declined 23% year over year in the reported quarter.
Operational Highlights
Total silver production was 6.2 million ounces in the reported quarter, down 3.4% from 6.42 million ounces a year ago. Average realized market price of silver rose 17% year over year to $17.44 per ounce. The consolidated all-in sustaining costs (AISC) for silver were $12.63 per ounce, down 3.7% year over year.
Total gold production was 37,700 ounces in the reported quarter, down 8.5% from 41,200 ounces a year ago. Average market price of gold rose 3% year over year to $1,219 per ounce in the first quarter.
Financial Position
Cash and cash equivalents were $205.4 million as of Mar 31, 2017.
Capital expenditure was $33.1 million in the reported quarter involving $18.2 million of sustaining capital and $14.9 million for expansion of Dolores.
Total outstanding debt was $43.8 million at the end of first quarter.
Guidance
The company said that operating performance in the first quarter has been mostly on track to attain its full-year’s guidance and reaffirmed current forecast on the basis of anticipated increase in gold production from Dolores expansion and a decrease at Manantial Espejo.
For 2017, Pan American anticipates silver production in the range of 24.5–26 million ounces and gold production in the range of 155,000–165,000 ounces for the current year. Cash costs are expected in the range of $6.45–$7.45 per ounce, while AISC is expected in the range of $11.5–$12.9 per ounce in 2017.
Price Performance
Pan American’s shares have declined 21.6% in the last three months, underperforming the Zacks categorized Mining-Silver industry’s 14.8% loss.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Pan American currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Better-ranked companies in the basic materials space include Kronos Worldwide Inc (NYSE:KRO) , Akzo Nobel NV (OTC:AKZOY) and ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) . All the three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.
Kronos has an expected long-term earnings growth of 5%.
Akzo Nobel has an expected long-term earnings growth of 11.1%.
ArcelorMittal has an expected long-term earnings growth of 11.5%.
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