Profits for Barrick Gold Drop 26% in Third Quarter

Reporting on its third-quarter profits Thursday, Barrick Gold Corp. announced they fell by 26 percent to $97 million, saying that downward pressure came mainly from the impairment charges.

While gold prices were higher than projected for Barrick, sales dropped by 4 percent to offset the higher price.

Net income for the quarter ending September 30 reached $254 million, or 29 cents a share, down significantly from the $345 million, or 39 cents a share enjoyed in the third quarter of 2007. Analysts had been looking for about 47 cents a share.

The impairment charges came from investments in Highland Gold Mining LTD, a company based in Russia, as well as junior mining companies.

Revenue did increase from $1.68 billion to $1.88 billion for the quarter.

Gold sales came in at 1.8 million ounces at $872 an ounce during the quarter, in contrast to the 1.89 million ounces sold last year during the same period at $681 an ounce. Costs increased year-over-year, rising from $365 an ounce to $466 an ounce.

The company stands by its guidance of production of between 7.6 million to 7.8 million ounces of gold, with costs of between $425 an ounce to $445 an ounce.

Chief Executive Officer Peter Munk said in looking ahead he is very positive on the outlook for gold.