Barrick (NYSE:ABX) Exceeds Earnings, Revenue Expectations

As expected, Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX), the largest gold miner in the world, had a great quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations for earnings and revenue.

Earnings for the second quarter reached $759 million, or 77 cents a share. Last year in the same quarter Barrick generated $492 million in profits, or 56 cents a share.

Analysts had been looking for earnings of 72 cents a share on revenue of $2.61 billion. Revenue came in at 2.64 billion, so that was pretty close to expectations, although exceeding them by a little.

Gold production and higher gold prices led the way, even with the increased costs of mining. Gold production increased to 1.9 million ounce, a gain of 4.2 percent.

Guidance remains in place, where production estimates are expected to stay on target, with 7.6 million to 8 million ounces of gold produced in 2010. Cash costs are estimated to be from $425 to $455 an ounce during that time.

The board of directors of Barrick also declared a quarterly dividend of 12 cents a share, an increase of 20 percent over the previous dividend. Annually that translates to 48 cents a share.

Barrick will also move from their existing dividend payout structure of semi-annual to a quarterly payout structure.