Agnico Eagle Ends 2024 On An Upswing, Thanks To Strong Gold Environment
Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM) last night reported its Q4 and full-year 2024 results, highlighted by quarterly adjusted net income of $632 million ($1.26 per share), a leap from the $289 million ($0.58 per share) recorded a year earlier.
Topline revenue for the quarter ended at $2.22 billion, an increase from Q4 2023’s $1.76 billion, boosted by a realized gold price of approximately $2,660 per ounce in the quarter, an increase from $1,982 per ounce in the same period last year.
Despite the elevated royalties and other expenses that come with higher gold prices, net income for the fourth quarter reached $509 million, or $1.02 dollars per share, compared to the net loss of $374 million ($0.75 loss per share) in the fourth quarter of 2023. That swing to positive territory was partly due to the absence of impairment charges that weighed on last year’s results, as well as stronger production margins.
The fourth quarter’s operating cash flow was $1.13 billion, up from $728 million in the same period last year. Free cash flow climbed to $570 million from $302 million year over year, despite an increase in capital expenditures to $576 million from $437 million in the prior-year quarter.
For the full year, Agnico finished 2024 with revenue of $8.29 billion, up from last year’s $6.23 billion. Production costs for the year rose to $3.09 billion from $2.93 billion the year before, owing to a combination of royalty increases, higher labor expenses, and inflationary pressures, partially offset by efficiency gains and foreign-exchange tailwinds from the weaker Canadian dollar.
With total cash costs at $903 per ounce for 2024 versus $865 per ounce the previous year, and all-in sustaining costs at $1,239 per ounce against $1,179 per ounce in 2023, management has pointed to incremental royalties and project spending as the largest contributors to unit cost inflation.
Net income for the full year totaled $1.90 billion, slightly lower than $1.94 billion in the previous year. However, annual earnings last year benefited from a sizable remeasurement gain related to the consolidation of the Canadian Malartic mine. Adjusted net earnings came in at $2.11 billion, up from $1.10 billion in 2023.
Full-year cash from operations surged to $3.96 billion from $2.60 billion in 2023, and led to $2.14 billion of free cash flow, more than double 2023’s $947 million. Management used this surplus liquidity to repay $700 million of debt over the course of 2024, bringing total debt to $1.14 billion at year-end, down from $1.84 billion in December 2023.
The firm ended the year with a cash balance of $926 million, up from last year’s $338.6 million but a drop from the prior quarter’s $978 million because of said debt repayments.
Fourth quarter gold production decreased to 847,401 ounces from 903,208 ounces in the same period a year earlier, weighed down by lower output from Canadian Malartic, La India, Detour Lake, and Fosterville. For the full year, payable gold production registered a record 3.49 million ounces, a modest uptick from 3.44 million ounces in 2023.
Looking forward, Agnico Eagle has provided updated guidance for 2025 through 2027, forecasting stable gold production in the 3.30 to 3.50 million ounce range each year.
The company also expects total cash costs to trend between $915 and $965 per ounce in 2025, a slight increase over 2024’s full-year average of $903 per ounce. All-in sustaining costs are projected between $1,250 and $1,300 per ounce for 2025, modestly above the $1,239 dollars recorded for 2024. Capital expenditures have been guided to $1.95 billion, substantially above the $1.66 billion reported for 2024.
Agnico Eagle last traded at $100.81 on the TSX.
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