Fresnillo falls back on H1 update
The price of shares in FTSE 100 miner Fresnillo (LON:FRES) dropped by 3.68% to 1,229.50p (as of 12:50 BST) after the firm posted results for the first half of 2020. Profits before tax for the six months ended 30th June were up by 136% despite adverse foreign exchange movements and negative valuation shifts on silverstream. Management said that production had been relatively unaffected by COVID but silver production falling by 2.7% and gold declining by 11.8%.
CEO Octavio Alvídrez commented: “The combination of higher commodity prices and lower costs has resulted in a significant rise in profitability during the first half. Our performance improvement initiatives we have set out in previous reports are having a positive impact. We remain committed to delivering a sustainable improvement in our operating performance and maintaining the momentum in the improvement plan into the second half.
“We will continue to work closely with our stakeholders and believe that these partnerships will remain key to our ability to respond to whatever future challenges COVID-19 will present to our industry and our country.
“We look ahead to the second half with our commitment to our people being the highest priority, and a continued determination to generate the greatest value from our mine portfolio for the benefit of all our stakeholders“.
Reference to an intra-day fall of 3.68% is headline-grabbing and misleading. At close the “fall” was only 1.49% and that has been dismissed before noon today. So on closing price Fresnillo is now on its fifteenth consecutive daily rise.
More relevant might be consideration of the possibility of a retrace, although in the present mood that may not be for long. As it happens I have closed out my positions and taken profits in expectation of that. If I am wrong I shall buy back at a higher level.
Why not describe Fresnillo in relation to say Hochschild, or come up with some better value shares in precious metals and describe their merits? There are numerous small mining companies on AIM. You could help investors to avoid those unlikely to succeed.