Newmont gains on gold prices

Article Excerpt

NEWMONT MINING $51.94 (New York symbol NEM; Shares outstanding: 483.0 million; Market cap: $25.1 billion; SI Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 0.8%) reports that its 2009 earnings jumped 71.6%, to $1.4 billion from $792.0 million in 2008. The company sold common shares to raise funds to buy the one-third of the Boddington gold mine in Australia that it didn’t already own. Because of the extra shares outstanding, per-share earnings rose 60.3%, to $2.79 from $1.74. Cash flow per share rose 45.0%, to $6.45 from $4.45. Revenue rose 25.8%, to $7.7 billion from $6.1 billion. Results rose on higher gold and copper prices. Newmont sold its gold for $977 an ounce in 2009. That’s up 11.8% from $874 in 2008. The company feels that gold prices could rise to $1,350 an ounce this year. Newmont has also done a good job of cutting its production costs. Its unit production cost fell 4% for gold and 54% for copper. Newmont Mining is a buy. buy…