TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian gold miner Goldcorp on Thursday reported a 17% drop in adjusted profit for the three months ended March 31, as lower gold prices offset higher output of the yellow metal.

The Vancouver-based company reported adjusted net earnings of $209-million, or $0.26 a share, compared with $253-million, or $0.31 a share, in the first quarter of 2013.

Wall Street analysts had on average expected adjusted earnings per share of $0.14 on revenue of $963.45-million.

Net earnings declined to $98-million, or $0.12 a share, down by almost 70% year-on-year when compared with $309-million, or $0.38 a share.

Goldcorp is the world’s second-largest gold miner by value.

The company reported adjusted operating cash flow of $281-million, or $0.35 a share, compared with $400-million, or $0.49 a share, for the first quarter of 2013.

Adjusted revenues totalled $1.2-billion, effectively unchanged from the first quarter of 2013, as increases in metals sales were offset by lower metals prices.

Gold sales rose 15% to 684 000 oz, on 11% higher gold output of 679 900 oz. The company’s average realised gold price fell 20% to $1 297/oz in the quarter.

Goldcorp reported all-inclusive sustaining costs decreased 26% over the comparable period a year earlier to $840/oz.

Goldcorp said that it had budgeted to spend between $2.3-billion and $2.5-billion on its capital project this year.

Early last month, the company halted operations at its Los Filos mine, in southern Mexico's Guerrero state, after it was unable to negotiate a settlement to renew its land occupancy agreement with the local Carrizalillo Ejido.

The miner said that negotiations with Ejido authorities on a new occupancy agreement with sustainable terms continued and had been ongoing for several months. Goldcorp said that it believed that an agreement could ultimately be reached.

The suspension has the potential to affect the mine's 2014 production of between 330 000 oz and 345 000 oz of gold.

Goldcorp reconfirmed its guidance for the year of between 2.95-million and 3.1-million ounces following the divestiture of the Marigold mine, at all-in sustaining costs of between $950/oz and $1 000/oz.

At the end of last month, Goldcorp walked away from its C$3.6-billion hostile offer to acquire Quebec-based Osisko Mining that started in January, and which sparked a bidding war.

Osisko maintained from the start that Goldcorp’s offer did not offer shareholders adequate value, and sought alternative deals, which resulted in a friendly agreement with white knights Latin America-focused precious metals miner Yamana Gold and Canadian gold miner Agnico Eagle to jointly buy all Osisko's issued and outstanding common shares for C$3.9-billion, or C$8.15 a share.