Shares of gold and copper producer Newport Mining Corp. (NEM) slipped 0.5% Thursday to $35.22 despite the company reporting fourth-quarter earnings that surpassed analysts' expectations thanks to steady gold and copper production and lower operational costs.
The company reported adjusted earnings of $214 million, or 40 cents a share, for its fourth quarter, compared to $206 million, or 38 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected per-share earnings of 25 cents.
Excluding tax- and valuation-related adjustments, the company said it earned 7 cents a share in the quarter. Revenue rose to $2.05 billion vs. $1.94 billion in the same period last year. Attributable gold production, a measure of the company's actual gold-mining efforts, was 1.44 million ounces, an increase of 8% from the prior year quarter.
For the full year, Newmont posted adjusted earnings of $718 million, or $1.35 a share, down from $774 million, or $1.45 a share, in 2017. Full-year revenue dropped to $7.25 billion from $7.38 billion in 2017 "... primarily due to higher gold production at various sites, partially offset by lower average realized metal prices," the company said.