Helen Reid and Arunima Kumar

(Reuters] -Barrick Gold Corp. announced on Wednesday a share repurchase amounting to up $1 billion as well as a higher dividend payout. The gold miner’s fourth quarter results were better than analysts expected.

Pre-market trading saw Barrick’s U.S. listed shares rise 1.2% The quarter’s revenues of $3.310billion were 17% higher than the analysts estimate at $3.147billion. Net earnings increased more than twice to $726m from the prior quarter.

The adjusted earnings per share were $0.35 for the quarter, which beat analysts’ estimates of $0.30.

Mark Bristow, CEO of Barrick, stated that the company was financially strong to buy back shares. He also claimed the share price does not accurately reflect the assets and value.

Barrick shares soared when gold prices rose due to the global Pandemic in 2020, however, the stock is not performing as well and has fallen 15.6% since 2021.

A dividend was declared by the miner at 10 cents per shared, an 11% increase over its previous quarterly base dividend.

PRODUCTION IS DOWN, BUT COSTS ARE UP

Barrick’s total gold production declined 6.8% over the past year to 4.437million troy ounces, down from 4.76million in 2020. Also, copper production in 2021 was lower at 415 millions pounds as compared to 457million pounds in 2020.

Barrick’s expenses also increased over 2021.

Barrick’s all-in sustaining cost (AISC), a measure that measures total mining costs, increased by 17.5% to $2.62 / pound in 2021, from $2.23 / pound in 2020.

Barrick’s Gold Operations costs rose 6.1% from $967 an ounce to $1,026 an ounce in 2020.

Barrick indicated that all-in costs for sustaining gold will rise to between $1.040 and $1.120 per ounce in 2022. Cash costs are $730 to $790 an ounce.

“Barrick previously stated 3-5% inflation annually, and 2022 cash cost guidance suggests 4.8% inflation.” Credit Suisse Fahad Tariq (SIX) said.