Canadian miner Barrick Gold reported a quarterly profit on Thursday that beat analysts' estimates, helped by a jump in gold prices due to coronavirus-induced economic uncertainty.
The company's US-listed shares were up 2.4% at $21.33 before the bell.
Gold prices touched record highs in 2020, as investors flocked to the safe-haven asset while the Covid-19 pandemic roiled the global economy. In the fourth quarter, market prices averaged $1 875/oz, 26.4% higher than a year earlier.
Barrick said its all-in sustaining costs (AISC) for the reported quarter, an important metric for miners, rose to $929/oz from $923/oz last year.
For 2021, the company expects AISC to be between $970/oz and $1 020/oz, compared with $967 in 2020.
Barrick said it expects full-year production to be between 4.4-million ounces and 4.7-million ounces, compared with its 2020 production of 4.8-million ounces.
The miner expects copper production in the range of 410-million to 460-million pounds this year, compared with production of 457-million pounds last year.
Quarterly net income nearly halved to $685-million as the company had gains related to some assets and acquisitions in the year-earlier quarter.
On an adjusted basis, profit rose to $616-million, or 35c a share, in the fourth quarter ended December 31, from $300-million, or 17c a share, a year earlier.
Analysts on an average had expected a profit of 32c a share, according to Refinitiv IBES data.