By Robb M. Stewart
Barrick Mining will break off its North American gold assets into a separate company as the miner seeks to boost value at a time when prices for the precious metal have soared.
Barrick's board has given management the go ahead to pursue an initial public offering of the prized gold operations, of which the Toronto-based company will retain majority control.
The push will be overseen by Mark Hill, who has been named president and chief executive after holding the roles on an interim basis since last September's sudden departure of former leader Mark Bristow.
Prices for gold and other metals, including the copper that Barrick has in recent years pivoted toward, have jumped and remain elevated despite recent volatility. That helped buoy Barrick's earnings last year and prompted it to boost its dividend 40% for the latest quarter.
An IPO of the gold assets in North America, which account for a little over 60% of the company's production of the metal, could mark a reset for Barrick. Investors have pointed to a valuation that has lagged relative to other big gold producers, and to the risks inherent in doing business in some parts of the world, including Mali where its mines were last year shuttered amid a dispute with the military government.
After kicking off a review of a possible IPO late last year, Barrick said its board concluded an IPO represents the best path to maximizing value for shareholders. The IPO process is expected to be completed late this year, subject to market conditions and any needed regulatory approvals.
The North American portfolio centers around Barrick's majority-owned Nevada gold venture with Newmont, the wholly-owned Fourmile discovery in Nevada, and the Pueblo Viejo mine in Dominican Republic that is minority owned by Newmont. Ahead of the float, the company restructured its regional teams and included the Pueblo Viejo mine within the North American segment, rather than in the new South America and Asia Pacific division.
The split will leave Barrick focused on copper and gold assets is more than a dozen countries and five continents.
The company, which last year changed its name from Barrick Gold to emphasize the growing importance of copper in its portfolio, previously had its sights on growing production sharply by 2030, leaning on developments such as the Reko Diq copper-and-gold development in Pakistan and the $2 billion construction of a "super pit" at its Lumwana copper mine in Zambia.
Under Bristow, the company also had tightened its portfolio around large, longer-life operations and sold a number of smaller assets, including its last operating Canadian gold mine in a $1.09 billion deal that concluded last quarter.
Barrick's production of gold rose to 871,000 troy ounces in the latest quarter, from 829,000 ounces in the prior three months. That took output for the year to almost 3.26 million ounces, a drop of 17% from 2024 after the company's operations in Mali were halted, but in line with Barrick's target
Production of copper, in demand for electric vehicles and wind- and solar-energy generation, increased to 62,000 metric tons from 55,000 tons in the prior quarter. For the year, output was up 13% at 220,000 tons.
For the new year, the company said it is targeting gold production of between 2.9 million and 3.25 million ounces, a decline after the recent sale of two mines. Copper output is expected to be between 190,000 and 220,000 tons.
On Thursday, Barrick said it was again ramping up shareholder payouts.
After raising the dividend base 25% in November, the board approved a quarterly dividend of 42 cents a share. That is more than double the 17.5 cents paid out the quarter before, which included a performance dividend.
From the fourth quarter, the company said its policy will be to target a total payout of 50% of attributable free cash flow on an annualized basis. That will comprise a fixed base quarterly payout of 17.5 cents a share, and a performance top-up at the end of each year based on cash flow during the year.
That came as it reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $2.41 billion, or $1.43 cents a share, against $996 million, or 57 cents, a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis that strips out items including certain one-time costs and the impact of foreign exchange movements, earnings more than doubled to $1.04 a share, beating the 90 cents forecast of analysts polled by FactSet.
Revenue for the quarter jumped 64% to $6 billion, topping the $5.2 billion expected by analysts.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-05-26 0849ET
