Fresnillo suffers as costs surge and precious metals lose some shine

Mexican miner’s operational performance has also disappointed the market

Mixed precious metals prices and disappointing operational news mean Fresnillo (FRES) shares have had a very poor start to 2023, down more than 17%.

Focused on Mexico, the miner is the world’s largest producer of silver from ore and has significant gold output. Prices for both metals have been volatile amid an uptick in bond yields on expectations interest rates might be higher for longer. can drive improved profitability and cash generation in the year ahead and beyond.

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DOWN in the dumps

Fresnillo has been the author of its own misfortune too. An operational update on 25 January revealed silver production for the final three months of 2022 of 12.5 million ounces, short of Berenberg’s 13.7-million-ounce forecast. The amount of metal contained within the ore at its flagship Fresnillo mine has also been below expectations.

At the same time the company is being hit by higher costs with adjusted production costs up as much as 20% as more ore was processed, it faced wider inflationary pressures, increased waste material was charged to costs and maintenance spend went up.

Full year results on 7 March showed profit more than halved to $248.6 million in 2022, thanks to these pressures. [TS]