Topic: How To Invest

Hi Pat: With the recent plunge in the share price of Agnico-Eagle, can you comment on your investment position with regard to this company? Do you think the shares have been oversold? Is this a good time to accumulate a substantial position in the stock? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

Agnico-Eagle Mines, $47.56, symbol AEM on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 172.7 million; Market cap: $8.2 billion; www.agnico-eagle.com), recently saw its share price drop sharply after it was forced to write off its investment in its Goldex mine in Quebec. The company had to close the mine because it is unstable: rock above the deposit is shifting and groundwater is leaking in. Including Goldex, Agnico-Eagle has four mines in Canada, one mine in Finland and one in Mexico. Before it was closed, Goldex accounted for 18% of the company’s total production. The company took a $260-million charge in the quarter ended September 30, 2011, to write off the mine. (All figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars.) Because of that charge, Agnico-Eagle lost $81.6 million, or $0.48 a share, in the quarter, compared to a year-earlier profit of $121.5 million, or $0.73 a share. Revenue rose 8.9%, to $515.4 million from $473.2 million. The company plans to increase its production…