Pan American Silver Corp. on Aug. 9 lowered its full-year cost guidance as its second-quarter net profit rose 5.3% year over year to US$36.0 million, or 23 cents per share, from US$34.2 million, or 22 cents per share.
All-in sustaining costs per silver ounce sold, or AISCSOS, for the quarter came in at US$10.73, down from US$11.31 in the year-ago quarter. AISCSOS for the half of US$11.66 came in at the lower end of guidance, prompting a lowering of the full-year guidance to between US$10.50 and US$11.50, compared to between US$11.50 and US$12.90 previously.
Full-year cash costs are expected to be between US$5.50 and US$6.50 per ounce, compared to the previous guidance of between US$6.45 and US$7.45 per ounce.
The company also raised its capital expenditure guidance to between US$73.5 million and US$78.5 million, from between US$58 million and US$62 million previously. This includes an additional US$5 million to complete the expansion at the Dolores mine in Mexico, and a new investment of between US$11 million and US$12.5 million to advance the development of the recently acquired Joaquin and COSE projects in Argentina, offset by slightly lower project capital at La Colorada.
Quarterly revenues increased 4.7% year over year to US$201.3 million from US$192.3 million, reflecting higher realized metal prices and lower direct selling costs, while the company posted US$44.8 million in operating income during the quarter, rising from US$44.7 million a year earlier. Quarterly CapEx dropped 20.8% year over year to US$41.8 million from US$52.8 million.
During the quarter, the company produced 6.30 million ounces of silver, down 0.5% from 6.33 million ounces in the prior-year period, while output of gold rose to 37,710 ounces from 48,380 ounces.
The company declared a dividend of 2.5 cents per share, the same as the linked quarter and up from 1.25 cents per share for the prior-year period.