Sierra Metals Reports Third Quarter 2023 Operating and Financial Performance

Sierra Metals Inc. (TSX: SMT | OTC: SMTSF) ("Sierra Metals" or "the Company") reports financial results for the three-month (“Q3”) and nine-month (“9M”) period ended September 30, 2023 with total revenues of $57.0 million and Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ of $8.1 million on throughput of 622,622 tonnes and metal production of 18.5 million copper equivalent pounds in Q3 2023.

Ernesto Balarezo, CEO of Sierra Metals, commented, “We continued to make incremental improvements across our operations during the quarter, and are very pleased the hard work by our team is paying off as we are on track to meet 2023 guidance. During the quarter we placed the non-core Cusi silver mine on care and maintenance and initiated a sale process for this asset with the belief that these steps will improve our portfolio and support our future growth. And lastly, we are pleased with the support shown by shareholders who participated in our recent financing, which validated our strategy and helped to strengthen our balance sheet.”

Mr. Balarezo continues, “In the first three quarters of 2023, we have almost equaled the entire production of 2022 so our operational improvements are working. The momentum across our business has continued into the fourth quarter as we look forward to a strong finish for 2023.”

Q3 2023 Consolidated Financial Summary

The information provided below are excerpts from the Company’s Q3 2023 financial statements and Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”), which are available on the Company's website (www.SierraMetals.com) and on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) under the Company’s profile.

Consolidated results include results from the Company’s Yauricocha Mine (“Yauricocha”) in Peru and the Bolivar Mine (“Bolivar”) in Mexico. The Cusi Mine (“Cusi”) in Mexico was classified as a non-core asset in Q1 2023 and, on September 20, 2023, was put on care and maintenance, with a sale process now underway. Current and historical production and financial results for Cusi are not included in the Company’s consolidated results, 2023 Guidance and has been classified as a Discontinued Operation.

Revenue from metals payable was $57.0 million in Q3 2023, representing an increase of 62% over the same period in 2022 of $35.2 million and a 2% decline compared to Q2 2023 of $58.4 million. The increase in revenue from Q3 2022 to Q3 2023 was largely driven by higher metal sales at Bolivar and higher copper, silver, lead and gold prices.

Consolidated cash costs per copper equivalent payable pound⁽¹⁾ in Q3 2023 of $2.11 and consolidated AISC⁽¹⁾ per equivalent payable pound copper of $3.66 were 12% and 5%, respectively, lower than the same quarter of 2022. The improvements in consolidated cash costs and AISC per copper equivalent pound were primarily due to higher production levels at Bolivar despite lower production at Yauricocha.

Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ in Q3 2023 was $8.1 million, compared to negative Adjusted EBITDA of $6.2 million in the same quarter of 2022. The improved Adjusted EBITDA is primarily driven by higher revenues, attributable to higher production and improved operating costs compared to Q3 2022.

Net loss attributable to shareholders for Q3 2023 was $9.3 million (Q3 2022: a net loss of $46.2 million) or $(0.06) per share (basic and diluted) (Q3 2022: $(0.28)).

Excluding discontinued operations, net loss was $2.8 million in Q3 2023 versus a loss of $38.1 million in Q3 2022.

Adjusted net loss attributable to shareholders⁽¹⁾ of $2.1 million, or $(0.01) per share, for Q3 2023 compared to the adjusted net loss of $12.1 million, or $(0.07) per share for Q3 2022.

Cash flow generated from operating activities before movements in working capital was $6.0 million for Q3 2023 as compared to $6.8 million of cash used in operating activities in Q3 2022. The increase resulted from higher revenues and lower costs during Q3 2023 versus Q3 2022.

Cash and cash equivalents as at September 30, 2023 were $18.2 million (including restricted cash of $12.1 million), and working capital of $(81.4) million, compared to $5.1 million and $(78.1) million, respectively, at the end of 2022. Cash and cash equivalents increased during the nine-month period as a result of cash generated from operating activities of $35.3 million, cash generated from financing activities of $10.3 million and cash used in investing activities of $32.5 million.

The Company has raised approximately C$16.4 million from various investors, including existing shareholders, directors and employees in a private placement of 43,107,360 common shares. The private placement closed after the end of the third quarter and funds became available in two tranches, the first being approximately C$12.8 million and the second being approximately C$3.5 million, each at a subscription price of C$0.38 per common share. Common shares issued pursuant to the private placement are subject to statutory hold requirements, as applicable.

Outlook 2023

The Company is on-track to meet its 2023 production guidance as previously announced on August 14, 2023. Production for all metals has been in-line with the guidance range as can be seen from the table below. Copper equivalent production calculations have been negatively impacted by the drop in zinc prices during the nine-month period ended September 30, 2023. For comparison purposes, the copper equivalent production has been recalculated at the same metal prices that were used for the original guidance. Cash costs and AISC per copper equivalent payable pound for Yauricocha and Bolivar have also been adjusted in the ‘Cash costs and AISC’ table below by using copper equivalent payable pounds at 2023 guidance metal prices.

Production Guidance

Cash Costs and AISC Guidance

Q3 2023 Operating Highlights

The Company reported Q3 2023 production results on October 19, 2023. Highlights of each mine’s activities in the quarter is as follows:

Yauricocha Mine, Peru

Yauricocha processed 259,732 tonnes during Q3 2023, an increase of 6% over Q2 2023 and a decrease of 3% from Q3 2022. Copper, silver and gold grades increased by 23%, 7% and 3%, respectively over Q2 2023 and increased by 16%, 23% and 0%, respectively over Q3 2022. Copper equivalent production for Q3 2023 of 10.4 million pounds represented a 9% increase over the previous quarter and a decline of 4% when compared to Q3 2022.

When compared to Q3 2022, the 4% decrease in the copper equivalent pounds produced in Q3 2023 resulted from the change in metal prices, particularly zinc prices which declined by more than 26% as compared to Q3 2022. The increase in metal production, except for gold, did not offset the impact of the change in metal prices as compared to Q3 2022.

Yauricocha had a cash cost per copper equivalent payable pound¹ of $2.08 (Q3 2022 - $2.01), and an AISC per copper equivalent payable pound¹ of $3.75 (Q3 2022 - $3.36) for Q3 2023. Cash costs increased for Q3 2023 due to a 26% decline in average realized prices for zinc which resulted in a 3% decrease in the copper equivalent payable pounds as compared to Q3 2022. The increase in the AISC for Q3 2023 was mainly a result of the 37% and 44% increase in the general and administration (“G&A”) costs and sustaining capital expenditure respectively, as compared to Q3 2022.

Bolivar Mine, Mexico

Bolivar achieved a throughput of 362,890 tonnes in Q3 2023, a 59% increase from Q3 2022, but a decline of 11% compared to Q2 2023, as anticipated. Bolivar recorded higher grades for all metals in Q3 2023, namely 28%, 27% and 37% for copper, silver, and gold, respectively, as compared to Q3 2022, and 16%, 21% and 12% lower for copper, silver, and gold, respectively, when compared to Q2 2023. As a result, copper equivalent production of 8.1 million pounds in Q3 2023 was 113% higher than in Q3 2022 and 24% lower than in Q2 2023.

Bolivar’s cash cost per copper equivalent payable pound decreased 37% to $2.15 (Q3 2022 - $3.38), and AISC per copper equivalent payable pound decreased 30% to $3.57 (Q3 2022 - $5.12) as a result of the 131% higher copper equivalent payable pounds as compared to Q3 2022.

Conference Call and Webcast

Sierra Metals' senior management will host a conference call and webcast to discuss the Company's financial and operating results for the three months ended September 30, 2023. Details are as follows:

The webcast, along with presentation slides, will be archived for 180 days on www.sierrametals.com.

Non-IFRS Performance Measures

The non-IFRS performance measures presented do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and are therefore unlikely to be directly comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. The Company believes these measures may allow certain investors to use this information to evaluate the Company’s performance.

Non-IFRS reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA

EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure that represents an indication of the Company’s continuing capacity to generate earnings from operations before taking into account management’s financing decisions and costs of consuming capital assets, which vary according to their vintage, technological currency, and management’s estimate of their useful life. EBITDA comprises revenue less operating expenses before interest expense (income), property, plant and equipment amortization and depletion, and income taxes. Adjusted EBITDA has been included in this document. Under IFRS, entities must reflect in compensation expense the cost of share-based payments. In the Company’s circumstances, share-based payments involve a significant accrual of amounts that will not be settled in cash but are settled by the issuance of shares in exchange for cash. As such, the Company has made an entity specific adjustment to EBITDA for these expenses. The Company has also made an entity-specific adjustment to the foreign currency exchange (gain)/loss. The Company considers cash flow before movements in working capital to be the IFRS performance measure that is most closely comparable to adjusted EBITDA.

The following table provides a reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to the condensed interim consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022:

Non-IFRS reconciliation of adjusted net income (loss)

The Company has included the non-IFRS financial performance measure of adjusted net income (loss), defined by management as the net income attributable to shareholders shown in the statement of earnings plus the non-cash depletion charge due to the acquisition of Corona and the corresponding deferred tax recovery and certain non-recurring or non-cash items such as share-based compensation and foreign currency exchange (gains) losses. The Company believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain investors may want to use this information to evaluate the Company’s performance and ability to generate cash flows. Accordingly, it is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance in accordance with IFRS.

The following table provides a reconciliation of adjusted net income (loss) to the condensed interim consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022:

Cash cost per copper equivalent payable pound

The Company uses the non-IFRS measure of cash cost per copper equivalent payable pound to manage and evaluate operating performance. The Company believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company’s performance and ability to generate cash flows. Accordingly, it is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS.

All-in sustaining cost per copper equivalent payable pound

All-In Sustaining Cost (“AISC”) is a non-IFRS measure and was calculated based on guidance provided by the World Gold Council (“WGC”) in June 2013. WGC is not a regulatory industry organization and does not have the authority to develop accounting standards for disclosure requirements. Other mining companies may calculate AISC differently as a result of differences in underlying accounting principles and policies applied, as well as differences in definitions of sustaining versus development capital expenditures.

AISC is a more comprehensive measure than cash cost per pound for the Company’s consolidated operating performance by providing greater visibility, comparability and representation of the total costs associated with producing silver and copper from its current operations.

The Company defines sustaining capital expenditures as, “costs incurred to sustain and maintain existing assets at current productive capacity and constant planned levels of productive output without resulting in an increase in the life of assets, future earnings, or improvements in recovery or grade. Sustaining capital includes costs required to improve/enhance assets to minimum standards for reliability, environmental or safety requirements. Sustaining capital expenditures excludes all expenditures at the Company’s new projects and certain expenditures at current operations which are deemed expansionary in nature.”

Consolidated AISC includes total production cash costs incurred at the Company’s mining operations, including treatment and refining charges and selling costs, which forms the basis of the Company’s total cash costs. Additionally, the Company includes sustaining capital expenditures and corporate general and administrative expenses. AISC by mine does not include certain corporate and non-cash items such as general and administrative expense and share-based payments. The Company believes that this measure represents the total sustainable costs of producing silver and copper from current operations and provides the Company and other stakeholders of the Company with additional information of the Company’s operational performance and ability to generate cash flows. As the measure seeks to reflect the full cost of silver and copper production from current operations, new project capital and expansionary capital at current operations are not included. Certain other cash expenditures, including tax payments, dividends and financing costs are also not included.

The following table provides a reconciliation of cash costs to cost of sales, as reported in the Company’s condensed interim consolidated statement of income for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022:

The following table provides detailed information on Yauricocha’s cash cost, and all-in sustaining cost per copper equivalent payable pound for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022:

The following table provides detailed information on Bolivar’s cash cost, and all-in sustaining cost per copper equivalent payable pound for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022:

The following table provides detailed information on Company’s consolidated cash cost, and all-in sustaining cost per copper equivalent payable pounds for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022:

Additional non-IFRS measures

The Company uses other financial measures, the presentation of which is not meant to be a substitute for other subtotals or totals presented in accordance with IFRS, but rather should be evaluated in conjunction with such IFRS measures. The following other financial measures are used:

• Operating cash flows before movements in working capital - excludes the movement from period-to-period in working capital items including trade and other receivables, prepaid expenses, deposits, inventories, trade and other payables and the effects of foreign exchange rates on these items.

The terms described above do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS, and therefore the Company’s definitions are unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. The Company’s management believes that their presentation provides useful information to investors because cash flows generated from operations before changes in working capital excludes the movement in working capital items. This, in management’s view, provides useful information of the Company’s cash flows from operations and are considered to be meaningful in evaluating the Company’s past financial performance or its future prospects. The most comparable IFRS measure is cash flows from operating activities.

About Sierra Metals

Sierra Metals is a Canadian mining company focused on copper production with additional base and precious metals by-product credits at its Yauricocha Mine in Peru and Bolivar Mine in Mexico. The Company is intent on safely increasing production volume and growing mineral resources. Sierra Metals has recently had several new key discoveries and still has many more exciting brownfield exploration opportunities in Peru and Mexico that are within close proximity to the existing mines. Additionally, the Company has large land packages at each of its mines with several prospective regional targets providing longer-term exploration upside and mineral resource growth potential.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information relates to future events or the anticipated performance of Sierra Metals and reflects management's expectations or beliefs regarding such future events and anticipated performance based on an assumed set of economic conditions and courses of action including the accuracy of the Company's current mineral resource estimates, that the Company's activities will be conducted in accordance with the Company's public statements and stated goals, and that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company, its properties or its production estimates, the expected trends in mineral prices, inflation and currency exchange rates, that all required approvals will be obtained for the Company's business operations on acceptable terms, and that there will be no significant disruptions affecting the Company's operations. In certain cases, statements that contain forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements include statements with respect to the sale of Cusi. By its very nature forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual performance of Sierra Metals to be materially different from any anticipated performance expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.

Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, the risks described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated March 28, 2023 for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 and other risks identified in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedarplus.ca.

The risk factors referred to above are not an exhaustive list of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking information. Forward-looking information includes statements about the future and is inherently uncertain, and the Company's actual achievements or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking information due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. The Company's statements containing forward-looking information are based on the beliefs, expectations, and opinions of management on the date the statements are made, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update such forward-looking information if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, one should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

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