Fresnillo Reports Revenue Boost and Reaffirms Production Guidance for 2024

Mexico-focused precious metals producer Fresnillo PLC announced an 11% rise in revenue for the first half of 2024, reaching USD1.49 billion, up from USD1.34 billion a year ago. The company's pretax profit surged to USD277.8 million, a significant increase from USD47.9 million in the same period last year.

The increase in profitability was attributed to higher gold and silver prices, with the average realized silver price rising 18% to USD27.62 per ounce and gold improving 11% to USD2,172.91 per ounce. On Tuesday morning in the UK, gold was trading at USD2,389.10 per ounce, while silver was at USD27.92 per ounce.

Despite the overall positive financial performance, gold production in the second quarter decreased by 15% year-on-year to 130,025 ounces, down from 152,380 ounces, and by 7.7% from the first quarter's 140,847 ounces. Silver production saw a slight decrease of 1.4% to 14.7 million ounces in the second quarter, compared to 14.9 million ounces a year earlier. However, it increased by 8.4% from 13.5 million ounces in the first quarter.

Lead production rose 21% annually to 16,906 tonnes from 13,994 tonnes and increased 13% quarterly from 14,924 tonnes. Zinc production grew 14% year-on-year to 29,240 tonnes from 25,670 tonnes and rose 12% quarterly from 26,157 tonnes.

Fresnillo declared an interim dividend of 6.40 US cents, a significant increase from the previous year's 1.40 US cents.

Looking ahead, the company confirmed it is "on track" to meet its full-year production guidance. Silver production is expected to be between 55.0 and 62.0 million ounces, while gold production is projected to be between 580,000 and 630,000 ounces. This compares to 56.3 million ounces of silver and 610,646 ounces of gold produced in 2023.

Chief Executive Officer Octavio Alvidrez expressed confidence in the outlook, stating, "I am pleased to report an increase in profitability over the period, driven by a steady production performance combined with careful cost management and higher gold and silver prices... We remain confident in the outlook. We are on track to meet full-year production guidance, and we are committed to managing our operations efficiently without compromising on the safety of our people or on continued investment into our longer-term growth pipeline."

Shares in Fresnillo were slightly lower at 571.89 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.