YAMANA GOLD $9.46 - Toronto symbol YRI

YAMANA GOLD $9.46 (Toronto symbol YRI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-815-0220; www.- yamana.com; Shares outstanding: 752.9 million; Market cap: $7.3 billion; Dividend yield: 2.9%) 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.
< br /> In the three months ended September 30, 2013, Yamana’s revenue fell 25.4%, to $456.7 million from $611.8 million a year earlier (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars).
< br /> Gold production declined 1.1%, to 306,935 ounces from 310,490. Prices for gold, and for copper and silver, also fell. Both copper and silver are significant byproducts of Yamana’s gold mining. The company’s cash flow per share fell 36.9% in the latest quarter, to $0.24 from $0.38.
< br /> Yamana holds cash of $232.1 million, or $0.31 a share. Its $1.1 billion of debt is just 14.7% of its market cap. The shares yield 2.9%.
< br /> 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 for $404 million U.S. last year. It hopes to start up a mine as early as 2016.
< br /> The company will likely produce almost 1.4 million ounces of gold for all of 2013, up 16.7% from 1.2 million ounces in 2012. Yamana expects its output to rise above 1.55 million ounces by 2015. Production will then move even higher in 2016 if Cerro Moro starts up.
< br /> Yamana Gold is still a buy.
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