strong>YAMANA GOLD $10.43 (Toronto symbol YRI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-815-0220; www.- yamana.com; Shares outstanding: 752.4 million; Market cap: $8.1 billion; Dividend yield: 2.5%) owns eight operating gold mines in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. It also holds a 12.5% stake in the Alumbrera copper/gold mine in Argentina and has a number of other properties in advanced stages of development.
In the quarter ended March 31, 2013, Yamana’s revenue fell 4.4%, to $534.9 million from $559.7 million a year earlier (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Gold production rose, but prices for gold, as well as copper and silver, which are both significant by-products of Yamana’s gold mining, dropped. Cash flow per share fell 3.3%, to $0.29 from $0.30.
Yamana held a high cash balance of $342.6 million, or $0.46 a share, on March 31. Its $860.5 million of debt is just 10.6% of its market cap. The shares yield 2.5%.
The company is conducting a feasibility study on its advanced-stage Cerro Moro project in Argentina, which holds as much as 2.4 million ounces of gold. Yamana bought Cerro Moro from Extorre Gold for $404 million U.S. last year. It hopes to start up a mine as early as 2016.
Cerro Morro carries above-average risk. That’s because Argentina nationalized the Argentine oil unit of Spanish energy firm Repsol last year, and investors are concerned about similar moves in the mining industry. However, Yamana got a bargain, and it already operates one mine in Argentina. That experience will help it bring Cerro Moro into production.
The company will likely produce over 1.44 million ounces of gold this year, up 20.0% from 1.20 million ounces in 2012. It expects its output to rise above 1.75 million ounces by 2015 and move even higher in 2016 if Cerro Moro starts up.
Yamana Gold is still a buy.