This article is 6 years old. Images might not display.
The Vancouver-based company, billing itself as the sector's newest senior gold producer, reported adjusted net income for the third quarter of $45 million or 5c per share, compared to income of $14 million or 1c per share in the year-earlier period.
The improved quarterly performance was mainly attributable to the 2017 opening of the Fekola mine, in Mali.
Net income came in at $16 million, or a 1c per share, compared with $12 million or 1c a share in the same period of 2017.
The cornerstone Fekola mine recorded its first full year of production, helping boost consolidated gold output 78% or 106,412oz year-on-year, to a new quarterly record of 242,040oz. The mine produced 107,002oz of gold.
B2Gold's other operations put in a sterling performance during the third quarter, with the Philippines-based Masbate mine reporting 24% higher output at 57,542oz, its second-highest quarterly output ever. The higher output and sales helped to more than double quarterly revenue to $324 million.
The consolidated cash flows from operating activities of $143 million, or $0.14 per share, increased by 240% to $101 million.
B2Gold said it remained "well on target to achieve transformational growth in 2018".
The full-year production guidance was forecast to be at the upper end of the 920,000-960,000oz range, on track to add about 300,000oz of production on the 2017 total.
All-in sustaining costs were expected to come in between $780-$830/oz.
With the Fekola mine in production, the resulting increase in gold production levels combined with low costs had "dramatically increased" B2Gold's production, revenues, cash from operations and free cash flows, with ongoing benefits expected to continue for many years, based on current assumptions, the company said.
If a gold price assumption of $1,200/oz was used for the balance of 2018, the company expected to generate cash flow from operations of about $450 million for the year, it said.
B2Gold's Toronto-quoted equity, which traded at up to C$4.06 in the past 12 months, climbed as much as 5% on Wednesday, underscoring the stock's 12-month gain of 5.5%. It last traded up C10c at $3.49, which gave the company a market value of $3.45 billion.
