Wheaton Precious Metals (TSX: WPM; NYSE: WPM; LSE: WPM) announced strong results for the second quarter of the year, saying it remains on track to achieve 2021 guidance of 720,000 to 780,000 gold equivalent ounces.
The precious metals streaming company said that record sales volumes in the first half of 2021 generated revenue of US$655 million, including US$330 million in the second quarter, an increase of 33% from the same period last year. Cash flow for that first half of the year was US$449 million, with US$216 million coming from the second quarter of 2021.
Wheaton reports that gold equivalent production increased by over 32% compared to the second quarter of 2020, to 194,140 ounces. Gold production increased 1.7% from the same period last year, to 90,290 ounces. Silver production rose 84% to 6,720 ounces.
Sales of gold equivalent ounces rose 7.2% from 2020's second quarter to 176,700 ounces in the same period this year, though gold ounces sold decreased 2.9% to 90,090 ounces, while silver sales rose 18.4% from last year to 5,600 ounces sold.
"This solid performance reflects the underlying strength of our diversified, high-quality portfolio, and has resulted in an increase to our dividend for the fourth quarter in a row, an increase of 50% over the prior year," said the company's president and CEO, Randy Smallwood.
Smallwood said Wheaton remains active on the corporate development front, closing a previously announced precious metals stream on Capstone Mining's (TSX: CS) Santo Domingo project in Chile and subsequent to the quarter, entering into an agreement on a new precious metals stream on Rio2's (TSX-V: RIO; US-OTC: RIOFF) Fenix Gold project, also in Chile.
"In addition, we remain committed to sustainability and are proud to have published our annual sustainability report in the second quarter, highlighting our focus on delivering value to all of our stakeholders."
At presstime, Wheaton was trading at $56 per share within a 52-week range of $44 to $73. The company has 450 million shares outstanding for a market cap of $25 billion.