Agnico Eagle Mines (TSE:AEM) fell to the lowest price this year after the gold producer operating in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. reported lower-than-expected adjusted earnings.
Shares gave back 9.3 percent to C$28.40 at 2:34 p.m. in Toronto, after reaching C$27.50, the lowest intraday price since Dec. 31.
Adjusting for one-time items, Agnico earned $0.02 per share in the July-to-September quarter, the Toronto-based company said in a statement late yesterday. That was below the $0.15 analysts were expecting.
The company ascribed the miss to increased spending on exploration.
Overall, Agnico reported a net loss of $15.1 million, or $0,07 per share, from a profit of $74.9 million, or $0.43 per share, a year earlier.
Agnico said it produced 349,273 ounces of gold in the third quarter, up from 315,828 ounces in the comparable quarter in 2013.
Its average cash costs for producing an ounce of gold on a by-product basis rose to $716 an ounce from $591 in the same period last year.
However, Agnico raised its gold production forecasts for both this year and next due to strong operating results at its mines.
It now expects to produce around 1.4 million ounces of gold this year, up from a previous forecast of 1.35 million to 1.37 million ounces. It also lifted its production outlook for 2015 to 1.6 million ounces.