(Alliance News) - Hochschild Mining PLC on Wednesday declared a dividend for the first time in over two years, as it reported a swing to profit in 2024 on increased gold production and a higher gold price.
Hochschild, a London-based gold and silver miner operating in Argentina, Brazil and Peru, declared a final dividend of 1.94 US cents per share. The last time the company paid a dividend was a 1.95 cents interim payout for 2022.
Hochschild said the final dividend will cost USD10.0 million, and it will aim to pay out at least that amount annually going forward in two instalments each year.
The dividends will be based on 20% to 30% of free cash flow and will be subject to leverage being lower than 1.5 times net debt to adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
In 2024, adjusted Ebitda was USD421.4 million, up 54% from USD274.4 million in 2023. Net debt was USD215.6 million on December 31, down from USD257.9 million a year before.
Hochschild reported pretax profit of USD177.2 million in 2024, swung from USD43.5 million loss in 2024, as revenue rose by 37% to USD947.7 million from USD693.7 million.
Attributable production was 347,374 gold equivalent ounces in 2024. This was made up of 245,000 ounces of gold, up 32% from 186,000 in 2023, and 8.5 million ounces of silver, down 11% from 9.5 million.
All-in sustaining costs from operations was USD1,638 per gold equivalent ounce in 2024, up 13% from USD1,454 in 2023. However, the average realised price of gold sold rose by 19% to USD2,345 from USD1,974.
Looking ahead, Hochschild expects to produce 350,000 to 378,000 gold equivalent ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of USD1,587 to USD1,687 per ounce. The company noted that the new Mara Rosa mine, an open-pit gold mine in the Brazilian state of Goias, is set to contribute 94,000 to 104,000 ounces of this.
"We are pleased to announce our best financial performance for 13 years, a testament to our exceptional team and high-quality assets," said Chief Executive Officer Eduardo Landin.
"Our growth strategy continues to deliver, with the addition of a record 2.8 million gold-equivalent ounces of mineable resources, extending the life of all our current operations and two major growth projects are now being developed that could boost annual production by over 200,000 ounces."
Hochschild shares were up 13% at 216.50 pence on Wednesday morning in London. The wider FTSE 250 index was up just 0.5%.
By Tom Waite, Alliance News editor
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