gold prices

WESTJET AIRLINES, $13.10, symbol WJA on Toronto, has reported higher revenue and earnings in the latest quarter. In the three months ended September 30, 2010, WestJet’s revenue rose 14%, to $684.6 million from $600.3 million a year earlier. Earnings jumped 71.8%, to $54 million from $31.4 million. Earnings per share rose 54.2%, to $0.37 from $0.24 on more shares outstanding. This was the company’s 22nd consecutive quarter of profitability. The recovering economy pushed up demand for the company’s flights; that was the main reason for the higher revenue and earnings. WestJet has a new, fuel-efficient fleet and a low cost structure. As well, it serves more cities than many of its competitors. It’s selectively adding to these destinations, and focusing on sunshine destinations where it can add to its earnings by selling customized vacation packages that include flights. These strengths put the company in a good position to continue profiting from the economic recovery....

Gold hit yet another all-time high of $1,383.10 U.S. an ounce in yesterday’s trading. It closed the day at $1,381.00, up $45.50. A major factor in this latest gold-price rise was the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday announcement that it plans to inject $600 billion into the U.S. economy. That could spur inflation or further weaken the U.S. dollar. Continued low interest rates only add to inflation concerns. These fears are prompting more investors to buy gold and gold investments, because they believe gold will provide them with additional security....

San Gold, $3.20, symbol SGR on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 300.4 million; Market cap: $961.3 million), operates the Rice Lake gold mine in Manitoba. The mine is about 200 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg and west of the Red Lake mining region in neighbouring Ontario. The Rice Lake gold mine originally operated from 1932 to 1968. During that time, it produced 1.36 million ounces of gold. It remained idle for almost 30 years, until Rea Gold Corporation decided to rebuild it. Rea installed a hoist and a new shaft, and it built new surface infrastructure. It also expanded the mill. But before Rea could begin mining gold at the site, it ran into financial trouble and filed for bankruptcy in 1997. Harmony Gold Mining Ltd. of South Africa bought the property in 1998, and produced 110,000 ounces of gold before low gold prices prompted the company to close the mine in 2001....

FIRSTSERVICE CORP. $26, symbol FSV on Toronto, serves the following areas of the real-estate market: commercial real estate; residential property management; and property improvement. The company’s revenue rose 17.6% in the three months ended September 30, 2010, to $530.4 million from $451.1 million a year earlier. (All figures except share price in U.S. dollars.) FirstService’s property-services revenue rose 5% in the latest quarter, to $126.1 million. Residential property-management revenue rose 4%, to $181.6 million. The commercial real-estate division’s revenue showed the biggest gain, rising 43%, to $222.7 million....

Golden Star Resources, $5.13, symbol GSC on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 258.2 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion), owns and operates the Bogoso/Prestea and Wassa mines in the west African country of Ghana. Golden Star expects to produce 385,000 ounces of gold in 2010: 200,000 ounces from Bogoso/Prestea and 185,000 ounces from Wassa. In the three months ended June 30, 2010, Golden Star’s revenue jumped 31.0%, to $120.3 million from $91.9 million a year earlier. (All figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars.) Cash flow per share rose 17.6%, to $0.15 from $0.13. Higher production and rising gold prices were the main reasons for the gains. The company holds cash of $181.2 million, or $0.70 a share. Its $119.5 million of debt is a low 9.2% of its market cap....

HECLA MINING COMPANY $6.93 (New York symbol HL; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (208-769-4100; www.hecla-mining.com; Shares outstanding: 256.1 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion) explores for, mines and processes silver and gold in the U.S. and Mexico. Hecla expects to produce between 10 million and 11 million ounces of silver this year. This will mostly come from the Greens Creek mine in Alaska, and Hecla’s Lucky Friday mine in Idaho. In the three months ended June 30, 2010, Hecla’s revenue rose 18.8%, to $88.6 million from $74.6 million a year earlier. Higher silver prices and lower costs were the main reasons for the gain. The company earned $0.06 a share, compared to nil per a share. Cash flow per share rose 45.5%, to $0.16 from $0.11....

ADOBE SYSTEMS INC., $26.88, Nasdaq symbol ADBE, reported record-high quarterly revenue and stronger-than-expected earnings this week. However, the software maker warned that its earnings in the current quarter will be hurt by slowing sales of its Creative Suite 5 software package to U.S. schools. The weak Japanese economy is also hurting demand for this product. The warning caused the stock to fall 19%. Creative Suite 5, which accounts for about 55% of Adobe’s revenue, is a package of photo-editing and desktop-publishing programs....

Colossus Minerals, $8.48, symbol CSI on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 83.9 million; Market cap: $711.8 million), holds a 75% interest in the Serra Pelada project in northern Brazil. Serra Pelada contains high-grade gold, platinum and palladium. Gold was first discovered at Serra Pelada in 1979. During the 1980s, up to 80,000 “garimpeiros” produced an estimated two million ounces of gold, plus platinum and palladium on the property. (Garimpeiros are artisanal or “wildcat” miners who mainly use hand tools.) The garimpeiros mined the minerals from a 400 metre by 300 metre hand-dug open pit that was 110 metres deep. Garimpeiro production declined in the late 1980s, because the pit wall collapsed. The pit also flooded, and digging into the bedrock at the floor became more difficult....

IAMGOLD $18.21 (Toronto symbol IMG; SI Rating: Speculative) (1-888-464-9999; www.iamgold.com; Shares outstanding: 372.1 million; Market cap: $6.8 billion; No dividends paid) has interests in five gold mines in Africa, one in Quebec and one in South America. In the three months ended June 30, 2010, IAMGold’s cash flow was $64 million, or $0.17 a share. (All figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars.) It holds cash and gold bullion of $227.9 million. Unlike most gold miners, it has no debt. IAMGold recently started production at its Essakane gold mine in the west African country of Burkina Faso. The mine will raise IAMGold’s production by about 25%, to over 1.2 million ounces per year, at a cost of just $500 per ounce....

MAJOR DRILLING, $27.04, symbol MDI on Toronto, jumped 10% this week after the company reported sharply higher results in the latest quarter. Major’s revenue jumped 75.2% in the three months ended July 31, 2010, to $109.5 million from $62.5 million a year earlier. The company earned $5.1 million, or $0.21 a share. A year earlier, it lost $3.3 million, or $0.14 a share. Cash flow was $12.1 million, or $0.51 a share, in the latest quarter, up 58.9% from $7.6 million, or $0.32 a share. Major expects to see a continued rebound during the rest of 2010. Gold prices are near all-time highs, base-metal prices are strengthening, and many mining companies have raised new funds for exploration....