Silver Wheaton’s Q3 Production Rises as Net Earnings Sink 36 Percent

Silver Wheaton Corp. (TSX:SLW,NYSE:SLW) announced its unaudited results for the third quarter of 2013, commenting that its attributable silver equivalent production came to a record 8.9 million ounces (6.8 million ounces of silver and 34,800 ounces of gold), up 17 percent from the 7.6 million ounces it achieved in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue came to $166.4 million, up from $161.3 million in the third quarter of 2012. However, net earnings came in at $77.1 million, down 36 percent compared to the year-ago period.

Other highlights include:

• Attributable silver equivalent sales for the three months ended September 30, 2013 of 7.8 million ounces (5.7 million ounces of silver and 35,300 ounces of gold), compared to 5.1 million ounces in Q3 2012, representing an increase of 52%.
• Average realized sale price per silver equivalent ounce sold for the three months ended September 30, 2013 of $21.26($21.22 per ounce of silver and $1,308 per ounce of gold), representing a decrease of 32% as compared to the comparable period of 2012.
• Operating cash flows of $118.7 million ($0.33 per share¹) compared with $128.7 million ($0.36 per share¹) in Q3 2012, representing a decrease of 8%.
• Cash operating margin¹ of $16.53 per silver equivalent ounce compared with $27.20 in Q3 2012.
• Average cash costs¹ were $4.13 and $386 per ounce of silver and gold, respectively. On a silver equivalent basis, average cash costs1 rose to $4.73 compared with $4.16 in Q3 2012, due primarily to an increase in the percentage of revenue from gold sales.
• Declared quarterly dividend of $0.09 per common share as the result of the Company’s dividend policy whereby the quarterly dividend is equal to 20% of the average of the previous four quarters’ operating cash flow.

Click here to read the full Silver Wheaton Corp. (TSX:SLW,NYSE:SLW) press release.