B2Gold Corp. said May 9 that it swung to a net profit of US$57.4 million, or 4 cents per diluted share, for the first quarter, from a net loss of US$4.6 million, or 1 cent per diluted share, recorded a year earlier.
Quarterly revenues rose to a record-high US$344.3 million, representing a 135.4% year-over-year increase from year-ago figures of US$146.3 million.
Record quarterly gold production of 239,684 ounces, up 80.6% yearly from 132,736 ounces in the prior-year period, at lower all-in sustaining costs, or AISC, of US$750 per ounce from US$889 per ounce in the year-earlier quarter, resulted in the Canadian gold miner's return to profit.
B2Gold attributed output from the Fekola mine in Mali, the Masbate mine in the Philippines and Otjikoto mine in Namibia, which produced 114,142 ounces, 53,147 ounces and 39,499 ounces, respectively, as key contributors to its record quarterly output.
Costs for the three-month period ended March 31 climbed 51.4% to US$224.7 million, from US$109.2 million in the prior-year period.
Operating income for the quarter stood at US$83.5 million, rising 228.4% from US$25.4 million a year earlier. CapEx for the quarter stood at US$21 million, falling from US$67.8 million a year earlier.
Sales of gold climbed 116.6% year over year to 259,837 ounces during the quarter.
The company expects to meet its full-year production output of between 910,000 and 950,000 ounces of gold at AISC of between US$780 and US$830 per ounce.
