世界頭號黃金生產商放緩擴張腳步
The world's largest gold producer has signAlled a new restraint on expansion, declaring that it would no longer pursue size for size's sake as it pruned growth targets and shelved projects.
全世界最大的黃金生產商暗示,其擴張步伐將再次減速,它宣稱,不會再單純地爲了追求規模而尋求擴張,同時該公司調整了增長目標,並擱置了部分項目。The move by Barrick Gold came after the miner revealed an up to a $3bn blowout in the cost of a flagship project on the Chile-Argentina border.
在巴里克黃金(Barrick Gold)宣佈上述舉措之前,這家礦商透露,其位於智利和阿根廷邊界一處旗艦項目的成本暴漲近30億美元。Jamie Sokalsky, who took over as chief executive from Aaron Regent in June, pledged that "returns will drive production, production will not drive returns" as he announced a review of the miner's assets.
該公司首席執行官傑米•索卡爾斯基(Jamie Sokalsky)宣佈,將對公司資產進行審查。他承諾,"將用收益促進生產,而不是用生產促進收益。"今年6月,索卡爾斯基從亞倫•瑞金特(Aaron Regent)手中接過了首席執行官一職。
Mr Regent was ousted by a board led by founder and chairman Peter Munk amid dissatisfaction with a 30 per cent fall in Barrick's share price during the past year.
由於不滿巴里克黃金的股價在過去一年中下跌了30%,由公司創始人兼董事長彼得•蒙克(Peter Munk)率領的董事會撤掉了瑞金特的職務。But Barrick shares dropped 8 per cent yesterday after it said that the cost of its Pascua-Lama project in South America would be 50-60 per cent higher than expected at up to $8bn.
但該公司股價昨日下跌8%,因其表示,位於南美的Pascua-Lama項目的成本將比預期高出50%至60%,達到80億美元。"Investors want to see gold companies generate more cash and not just be on a production treadmill," Mr Sokalsky said as he reduced the miner's annual output target from 9m to 8m ounces by 2015. It also shelved the $6bn Cerro Casale project in Chile and the $6.7bn Donlin Gold project in Alaska.
索卡爾斯基指出,"投資者希望看到黃金企業創造出更多的現金,而不僅僅是一味的進行生產。"他下調了該公司的年產量目標,到2015年之前,其年產量將由900萬盎司降至800萬盎司。此外,巴里克黃金還擱置了60億美元的智利Cerro Casale項目以及67億美元的阿拉斯加Donlin Gold項目。The new tone from Barrick reflects a change in thinking across the gold sector, according to Sean Boyd, chief executive of Agnico-Eagle, the Toronto-listed gold miner.
在Agnico-Eagle首席執行官肖恩•博伊德(Sean Boyd)看來,巴里克黃金的動態反映出整個黃金行業的想法已經出現了變化。Agnico-Eagle是一家在多倫多上市的黃金礦商。"The era of gold mega-projects may be fading," Mr Boyd told the Financial Times.
博伊德向英國《金融時報》表示,"黃金行業追逐超大項目的時代或許正逐漸終結。"
Barrick's move comes after a miserable period for the gold sector, with miners dogged by production problems, cost increases and slumping stock valuations.
在巴里克黃金做出這一舉措之前,黃金行業經歷了一段痛苦的時期,生產難題、成本上升以及股票估值重挫,這些都令礦商們倍感困擾。Barrick' s net earnings fell 35 per cent in the second quarter to $750m. Barrick's second-quarter revenues fell from $3.4bn the previous year to $3.3bn this time around.
巴里克黃金第二季度淨利下滑35%,至7.5億美元。第二季度收入從上年同期的34億美元降至33億美元。