por admin » Jue Abr 29, 2010 8:14 pm
Ganancias de BVN aumentan 55%
Buenaventura First Quarter Profit Rises 55% on Gold (Update1)
By Alex Emery
April 29 (Bloomberg) -- Cia. de Minas Buenaventura SA, Peru’s biggest precious-metals producer, said first-quarter profit rose 55 percent on higher gold prices.
Net income increased to $155.2 million, or 61 cents a share, from $100.3 million, or 39 cents, in the year-earlier period, Lima-based Buenaventura said today in a statement. Analysts expected profit of 63.3 cents a share on an adjusted basis, the average of three estimates in a Bloomberg survey.
Buenaventura sold gold for an average $1,115 an ounce in the quarter, 22 percent more than a year earlier. Higher prices helped offset lower production of gold, silver and zinc, said Paul Rojas, an analyst at Lima-based investment fund NF&C Inversiones SA, which owns Buenaventura shares.
“The results weren’t spectacular compared with the fourth quarter,” Rojas, who doesn’t have a rating on the stock, said in a telephone interview before the results were released. “Strikes in March had a considerable impact, while ore grades are declining at most of Buenaventura’s mines.”
Buenaventura’s American depositary receipts, each representing one ordinary share, rose 35 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $33.10 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday. Fourth quarter profit was a record $210.4 million.
The earnings results were released after the close of trading on North American stock markets. The ADRs have jumped 56 percent over the past year.
(Buenaventura will hold its first-quarter conference call April 30 at 11 a.m. New York time. Dial-in: 1-973-582-2710, Pass Code: 66164081)