Gold mining giant Newmont has reported net income attributable to its stockholders of $170m in Q1 2024, a 51.5% decline compared with $351m a year ago.

On an adjusted basis, earnings were $0.55 per share in Q1 2024, compared with $0.40 a share in the prior year.         

The company’s sales in the first three months of this year were $4.02bn, up from $2.67bn in the same period last year, driven by higher production and metal prices.

Its average realised gold price was $2,090/oz in Q1 2024, a 9.7% rise from a year ago. Attributable gold production was 1.68 million ounces (moz) in the quarter, up 32.3% from Q1 2023.    

Costs applicable to sales (CAS) for gold grew 3.1% year-on-year to $1,057/oz, while all-in-sustaining costs (AISC) for gold rose 4.6% to $1,439/oz.

Newmont’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) were $1.69bn in the quarter ended 31 March 2024, compared with $990m in Q1 2023.

In the latest quarter, the company registered a negative free cash flow of $74m, due to $850m of capital reinvestment to sustain existing operations as well as support high-return projects.

The company announced a Q1 dividend of $0.25 per share.

Newmont president and CEO Tom Palmer said: “Newmont delivered a strong first quarter operational performance, producing 2.2 million gold equivalent ounces and generating over $1.4bn in cash from operations before working capital changes.

"Underpinned by the gold industry's leading portfolio of Tier 1 gold and copper operations, we remain well-positioned to achieve our full-year guidance and deliver meaningful synergies and productivity improvements from the combined portfolio.

“We remain focused on delivering on the commitments we laid out at the beginning of this year, creating an attractive value proposition for new and existing investors during this unique time in the gold industry."

For the full year 2024, Newmont projects gold production of around 6.9moz, AISC of $1,400/oz and CAS for gold of $1,050/oz.