Gary Brown
Analyst · RBC. Please go ahead
Thank you, Randy, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The company’s precious metal interests produced 187,000 gold equivalent ounces in the fourth quarter of 2019, comprised of 107,200 ounces of gold, 6 million ounces of silver and 6,100 ounces of palladium, an increase of over 3% from the comparable period of the prior year. Gold production was virtually unchanged, while silver and palladium production increased by 8% and 3% respectively. The increase in silver production was primarily the result of a significant increase in grades at Penasquito, with the legal blockade having ceased on October 22. The increase in palladium production is reflective of the Blitz project ramping up at the Stillwater operation as well as the Fill the Mill program at the East Boulder mine. Gold sales volumes decreased by 13% due to a buildup of ounces produced but not yet delivered relative to Salobo, while silver and palladium sales volumes increased 6% and 5% relative to the fourth quarter of 2018. As at December 31, 2019, approximately 98,600 payable gold ounces, 4.5 million payable silver ounces and 4,900 payable palladium ounces had been produced but not yet delivered to the company, with the payable gold ounces increasing by 13,300 ounces during the quarter. We estimate a normal level for payable ounces produced but not delivered to equate to approximately two to three months for gold, two months for silver and three months for palladium, with the 2019 year-end balances being at the higher end of these ranges. Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2019 amounted to $223 million representing a 14% increase relative to Q4 2018, primarily due to a 21% increase in the average realized gold price, an 18% increase in the average realized silver price and a 59% increase in the average realized palladium price, with these price increases being partially offset by the lower sales volumes. Of this revenue, 59% was attributable to gold sales, 37% silver and 4% attributable to palladium sales. Driven by a weighted average increase in commodity prices of 21%, gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2019 increased 47% to $96 million, highlighting the leverage our business model provides to increases in precious metal prices. Cash-based G&A expenses amounted to $10 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, representing a decrease of $9 million from Q4 2018, with the decrease being primarily related to lower accrued costs associated with performance share units, or PSUs, coupled with the results for the fourth quarter of 2018, reflecting a $5 million onetime success fee for legal services associated with the positive resolution of the company’s dispute with the CRA. Interest costs for the fourth quarter of 2019 amounted to $8 million, resulting in an effective interest rate on outstanding debt of 3.62% as compared to $13 million of interest costs at an effective interest rate of 3.83% incurred in Q4 2018. Net earnings amounted to $78 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 compared to $7 million in Q4 2018, with the results in Q4 of 2018 being affected by several onetime adjustments primarily relating to the CRA settlement. After negating for items that are non-recurring in nature, adjusted net earnings in the fourth quarter of 2019 more than doubled to $78 million as compared to $37 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. Basic adjusted earnings per share increased 113% to $0.17 compared to $0.08 per share in the prior year. Operating cash flow for the fourth quarter of 2019 amounted to $132 million or $0.29 per share compared to $108 million or $0.24 per share in the prior year, representing a 21% increase on a per share basis. In addition, the company repaid $139 million on the revolving facility, made $34 million of dividend payments and advanced $10 million to Gold X as part of a convertible debenture private placement during the fourth quarter of 2019, resulting in a net debt position of $771 million as at December 31, 2019. Based on the company’s dividend policy, the company’s board has declared a dividend of $0.10 a share payable to shareholders of record on March 26, 2020, representing an 11% increase from the prior period. Under the dividend reinvestment plan, the board has elected to offer shareholders the option of having their dividends reinvested in newly issued common shares of the company at a 1% discount to market. For the year ended December 31, 2019, production on a gold equivalent basis was 707,000 ounces, which exceeded company guidance, with the lower silver production at Penasquito due to the impact of illegal blockades being more than offset by an outperformance of Salobo, which helped lead to record gold production. Revenue for 2019 amounted to $861 million, representing an 8% increase relative to 2018, with sales volumes being virtually unchanged on a gold equivalent basis. Of this revenue, 63% was attributable to gold, 33% silver and 4% was attributable to palladium sales, with gold sales volume of 389,000 ounces, representing a record for the company. On a gold equivalent basis, average realized commodity prices rose by 8% in 2019, while gross margin increased by 17%, yet again, highlighting the leverage the company provides to commodity prices. Cash-based G&A expenses in 2019 amounted to $49 million, representing an increase of $3 million from 2018, with such increase being primarily related to an $8 million increase in expenses related to PSUs, partially offset by the $5 million success fee reflected in 2018 related to the CRA settlement. For 2020, the company estimates that non-stock-based G&A expenses, which excludes expenses relating to the value of stock options and PSUs, will be in the range of $38 million to $40 million. Interest costs for 2019 amounted to $45 million, an increase of $9 million relative to 2018, resulting in an effective interest rate on outstanding debt of just over 4%. After negating for items that are non-recurring in nature, which for 2019 included adjusting for the effect of the $166 million impairment on the Voisey’s Bay cobalt stream, and for 2018, included adjusting for the effect of the $246 million gain on disposal of the San Dimas silver interest as well as adjusting for the costs relative to the CRA settlement, which totaled $29 million. Adjusted net earnings for 2019 amounted to $252 million, representing an 18% increase from adjusted net earnings for 2018 due primarily to the higher realized commodity prices in 2019, partially offset by higher finance costs. Basic adjusted earnings per share amounted to $0.56 in 2019 compared to $048 in 2018. Cash flow from operations amounted to $502 million, an increase of 5% as compared to 2018 with the increase being primarily attributable to the higher realized commodity prices. This translated into operating cash flow per share of $1.12 compared to $1.08 in 2018. As announced, the company is in the process of establishing a $300 million at-the-market program or ATM, under which capital can be raised through the issuance of common shares. The company is establishing this program to ensure that it has efficient and cost effective access to capital markets. This is just another financing tool that can be used in concert with operating cash flows and the credit capacity provided under its revolving credit facility to consummate additional accretive streaming transactions. That concludes the financial summary. And with that, I’ll turn the call back over to Randy.