Gold at nearly $4,900 an ounce papers over a lot. For Eldorado Gold (TSX: ELD), it papered over a 13% drop in volumes sold, a sharp run-up in costs and a deepening cash burn at its flagship Greek build, and still left the miner with one of the strongest profit prints in its history.
Revenue reached $532.4 million for the three months ended March 31, up from roughly $355 million in the same period a year earlier. Net earnings attributable to shareholders from continuing operations came in at $136.4 million, or $0.69 per share, nearly double the $72.0 million booked in Q1 2025. Adjusted net earnings rose to $188.2 million, or $0.95 per share, more than triple the year-earlier figure.
Adjusted EBITDA reached $335.7 million. Net cash generated from operating activities was $141.4 million.
Free cash flow was negative $129.1 million, weighed down by capital spending at the Skouries copper-gold project in Greece. Excluding Skouries, free cash flow was a positive $62.9 million. Cash and equivalents stood at $629.7 million at quarter end, down from $869 million at year end 2025.
The driver behind the earnings jump is no mystery. Eldorado realized an average gold price of $4,891 per ounce in Q1, a 67% leap from $2,933 a year earlier and well above the $4,251 averaged in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Gold production totalled 100,358 ounces in the quarter, with sales of 100,619 ounces, a 13% decline from Q1 2025. Output was always expected to be back-half weighted under the company’s full year plan, and management reiterated 2026 guidance of 490,000 to 590,000 ounces. By comparison, Eldorado produced 488,268 ounces in 2025, landing at the upper end of its guidance range.
Costs continued to drift higher. Total cash costs came in at $1,470 per ounce sold in Q1, up from $1,153 a year earlier, while all in sustaining costs rose to $1,942 per ounce from $1,559. Both metrics sit above the company’s full year 2025 averages of $1,176 and $1,664 respectively, with the company citing higher royalty expenses linked to elevated gold prices, lower volumes and labour related impacts. Full year AISC guidance remains $1,670 to $1,870 per ounce.
Most of the operational attention remains fixed on Skouries. The project was 94% complete at quarter end, with first concentrate now expected in Q3 and commercial production targeted for Q4, a roughly two quarter slip from the timeline outlined alongside Q3 2025 results, when first concentrate was guided for late Q1.
Project capital spending totalled $135.6 million in the quarter, lifting cumulative Phase 2 investment to $1.116 billion against a revised total project capital estimate of $1.315 billion. The accelerated operational capital budget has also climbed to approximately $260 million, an $82 million increase tied to expanded pre-commercial mining activity. The company says more than 2.8 million tonnes of ore has been stockpiled, which is enough to feed the mill through 2026.
Whether the additional spending delivers the smoother ramp up management is promising should become clearer later this year.
Eldorado Gold last traded at $41.97 on the TSX.
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