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Fresnillo PLC
FRES,
said Tuesday pretax profit sharply fell and revenue slipped for the first half of 2022, and that it was on track to meet its 2022 production guidance.
The Mexican precious-metals miner posted a pretax profit of $155.2 million compared with a pretax profit of $445.4 million for the first half of 2021. The company attributed the fall to lower revenue, higher cost of sales and increased exploration expenses.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell to $459.1 million compared with $747.0 million in the year-prior period.
Revenue fell to $1.26 billion from $1.47 billion a year ago. The company attributed the slip to lower gold volumes and silver prices, though it was somewhat mitigated by higher zinc and gold prices.
The board declared an interim dividend of 3.40 cents a share, down from 9.90 cents a year prior.
Fresnillo said the fifth wave of the coronavirus pandemic in Mexico, coupled with global supply-chain bottlenecks and cost inflation are likely to have a negative effect on the second half, though it was confident in its ability to weather short-term challenges without limiting growth.
The company backed its production guidance for the year of 50.5 million-56.5 million ounces of silver and 600,000-650,000 ounces for gold.
Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com
