Goldcorp beats expectations with US$170M net income on lower costs

VANCOUVER – Goldcorp (TSX:G) beat expectations in first quarter results with profits rising to US$170 million despite a drop in production as it drove costs down.

The net income, amounting to US$0.20 per share, was well ahead of an analyst consensus complied by Thomson Reuters of US$44.2 million, or US$0.08 per share.

Earnings were also higher than the US$80 million the company took in for the first quarter of 2016, despite producing substantially fewer ounces.

The Vancouver-based gold miner said it produced 655,000 ounces of gold at an all-in sustaining cost of US$800 per ounce in the first quarter, compared with 784,000 ounces at US$836 per ounce for the same quarter in 2016.

Goldcorp has targeted a 20 per cent reduction in sustaining costs over the next five years, with a $250 million annual sustainable efficiency program it says is well underway.

The company reaffirmed its 2017 production guidance of 2.5 million ounces at an estimated US$850 per ounce all-in sustaining cost.