Barrick beats forecasts, hikes dividend by 40% as gold prices soar

Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX) (NYSE: GOLD) posted on Wednesday a better-than-expected quarterly profit and gave investor a more than welcome 40% dividend increase thanks to strong gold prices.

The world’s second largest producer of the yellow metal said adjusted net earnings in the three months to December reached $300 million, or 17 cents a share, up from $264 million recorded in the previous quarter. Analysts’ average estimate was 14 cents a share.

The results, along with Barrick halving its debt to $2.2 billion over the course of 2019, allowed the miner to declare a dividend of 7 cents a share, up from 5 cents in third quarter, payable on March 16.

“The board believes the dividend increase is justified by the significant reduction in net debt and strong balance sheet, together with the growth in free cash flow supported by a robust 5-year plan which we have shared with the market,” executive vice-president and chief financial officer, Graham Shuttleworth, said in a statement.

Gold prices increased about 18% last year, as investors sought safe-haven assets due to global uncertainty triggered by the long-drawn out trade war between the United States and China.

Barrick has also benefited from the $1 billion fetched through asset sales since chief executive Mark Bristow took the helm in January 2019.