DENVER—Newmont Mining Corp., one of the world’s largest gold producers, on Thursday reported its first-quarter net income climbed nearly sixfold as it lowered production costs while gold prices jumped.
For the quarter that ended March 31, Newmont reported net income of $370 million, or 81 cents per share. The company said earnings from continuing operations totaled 80 cents per share.
In the first quarter of 2007, Newmont reported net income of $68 million, or 15 cents per share.
Revenue totaled $1.94 billion, compared with $1.22 billion in the year-ago quarter.
The results beat estimates from analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial who, on average, forecast income of 54 cents per share on revenue of $1.66 billion.
Newmont sold 1.29 million equity ounces of gold during the quarter, receiving an average price per ounce of $933. That compared to sales of 1.294 million equity ounces at an average price of $649 in the year-ago quarter. Costs applicable to sales dipped 2 percent to $396 an ounce.
The company reiterated its 2008 guidance of gold sales ranging from 5.1 million to 5.4 million ounches at costs applicable to sales ranging between $425 an ounce and $450 an ounce.
Newmont’s stock was unchanged at $43.85 a share in early Thursday trading.
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AP Business Writer Jennifer Malloy contributed to this report.
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