(Kitco News) - The world’s largest gold producer had a solid start to the first quarter, with significantly higher gold prices driving earnings.
Late Wednesday, Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT) reported adjusted net income of $1.4 billion, or $1.25 per diluted share, and adjusted EBITDA of $2.6 billion.
Newmont’s earnings significantly beat analyst expectations of $0.92 per share.
The company reported record net free cash flow of $1.2 billion.
"Following a robust fourth-quarter performance, Newmont has delivered 1.5 million attributable gold ounces and generated a record first-quarter free cash flow of $1.2 billion, demonstrating the strength of our unrivaled Tier 1 portfolio,” said Tom Palmer, Newmont's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We also successfully completed our non-core divestiture program, generating up to $4.3 billion in total gross proceeds, including over $2.5 billion of after-tax cash proceeds in the first half of 2025. With these significant achievements and a solid start to the year, we remain firmly on track to meet our 2025 guidance, continuing on our journey toward creating the world’s leading gold and copper portfolio for the benefit of our shareholders."
However, Newmont’s earnings were mostly driven by higher gold prices. The company reported an average realized gold price of $2,944 per ounce in the first three months of the year, up from $2,090 per ounce in the first quarter of 2024.
The company reported in-line gold production. Newmont said that attributable gold production decreased 19% to 1,537 thousand ounces from the prior quarter, primarily due to reduced contributions from non-core operations.
At the same time, the company also reported rising costs. Newmont said its all-in sustaining costs (AISC) per ounce increased 13% to $1,651 per ounce compared to the prior quarter, primarily due to higher costs applicable to sales (CAS) per ounce.
Although production declined and costs increased, Newmont said it delivered $1.0 billion in total returns to shareholders through share repurchases and dividend payments since the start of the year. The company declared a dividend of $0.25 per share of common stock for the first quarter of 2025.
In addition to its gold operations, Newmont produced approximately 35,000 tonnes of copper during the first quarter of 2024, contributing to over 480,000 gold equivalent ounces from copper, silver, lead, and zinc.
