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“.