Annual General Meeting Statement
20/05/2025 07:00
RNS Number : 3051J Fresnillo PLC 20 May 2025 Fresnillo plc 21 Upper Brook Street London W1K 7PY United Kingdom www.fresnilloplc.com 20 May 2025 Fresnillo plc - AGM Statement Fresnillo plc will hold its Annual General Meeting today. Chairman Mr Alejandro Baillères will make the following statement: "Good morning and thank you for joining us today. It remains a privilege to be presenting to you as your Chairman. 2024 was a strong year for Fresnillo. We delivered a significant increase in profitability as our positive production performance and focus on costs was enhanced by high silver and gold prices. While we expect to continue facing challenges in the years ahead, the encouraging attitude towards the private sector in different industries shown by the new administration in Mexico, coupled with our own operational efficiencies and exciting project pipeline, are sources for cautious optimism. Silver production was in line with our guidance, where good performances at San Julián Veins, Saucito and Juanicipio helped to offset lower output at San Julián DOB and Fresnillo. Gold production was ahead of guidance due to a strong increase in production at Fresnillo, Saucito and San Julián Veins, as well as an effective turnaround at Herradura. The team has worked extremely hard to improve the operating performance of our mine sites and I would like to acknowledge their outstanding efforts. A good example is the turnaround at Ciénega, where both performance and prospects have been improved. At the start of the year, we believed that the mine had only a limited future. However, we have seen excellent results and positive cashflow, with exploration activities opening up new areas that may have the potential to contribute to production in the future. We achieved US$3.6 billion in adjusted revenue, up 27% year-on-year, primarily due to higher prices, supported by our positive production performance. Gross profit more than doubled, up nearly 150% to over US$1.2 billion, driven by higher revenue and lower costs, primarily due to our cost reduction initiatives and efficiencies and, to a lesser extent, the favourable effect of the devaluation of the Mexican peso vs US dollar. These factors partially offset inflationary headwinds during the year. We declared an interim dividend of 6.4 US cents per share, with a final dividend of 26.1 US cents per share, bringing the total for the year to 32.5 US cents per share, in line with our dividend policy. Additionally, this year, following a comprehensive review of the Group's financial position, our strong balance sheet, and the expected generation of positive free cash flow in the coming years, we confirmed a one-off special dividend of 41.8 US cents per share. Overall, in 2024 we returned US$547.5 million to shareholders in the form of dividends. During the year, Mexico welcomed a new President. We have appreciated the greater dialogue with the new administration and this bodes well for the future. We believe we can look forward to a more supportive business environment - one that will provide greater certainty for the mining industry in Mexico, while also helping us to achieve our ambitious targets around the use of renewable energy. Alongside our performance improvement initiatives, we are continuing to advance our exploration pipeline. In particular, we have made good progress at Rodeo and Tajitos, as well as at Guanajuato, where the discovery of significant silver-rich veins is giving rise to optimistic forecasts. We are also maintaining investment in early-stage prospects and are actively pursuing potential acquisition targets. Our purpose is to contribute to the wellbeing of people through the sustainable mining of silver and gold. Our workforce is a cornerstone of this, and I am pleased to note that our underlying safety metrics again showed improvement. However, the fact that we experienced the fatalities of two contractors during the year shows that we must never pause our safety efforts. We have continued to make progress in sustainability matters that are critical to our business and underline our commitment to be a responsible corporate citizen. For example, we have made significant progress in increasing our renewable electricity consumption and replacing freshwater with municipal treated wastewater in our industrial processes. Those efforts continue. I would also like to provide a short update on your Board. Bárbara Garza Lagüera stepped down having served as an Independent NED for ten years. Charlie Jacobs also ceased to be an Independent NED, and Senior Independent Director, but remains on the Board as a Non-Independent NED, while Juan Bordes did not stand for re-election. I would like to thank all three for their service and I look forward to continuing to work with Charlie in the years ahead. We were pleased to appoint Dame Judith Macgregor as Senior Independent Director, and also Luz Adriana Ramírez and Rosa Vázquez as Independent NEDs. I would like to congratulate our management team once again on a strong performance in 2024, a year in which we made considerable operational and financial progress, while delivering significant value to our shareholders. Looking ahead, there remains much geopolitical instability, but I am encouraged by a more business-friendly environment in Mexico. Overall, the long-term outlook seems positive. We anticipate that at least one of the prospects in our exploration pipeline will join our development portfolio in the coming two to three years, and expect our investments in exploration in Mexico, Chile and Peru to make good progress. We also see a positive outlook for prices with demand for silver and gold increasing, largely in line with the shift towards green technologies and of course the safe haven offered by gold in these turbulent times. I would like to close by thanking my Board colleagues, the management team and our employees for their dedication, and our shareholders for your continued support." -Ends- For further information, please visit our website www.fresnilloplc.com or contact:
| FRESNILLO PLC London Office Gabriela Mayor, Head of Investor Relations Mark Mochalski | Tel: +44 (0)20 7399 2470 |
| Mexico City Office Ana Belem Zárate | Tel: +52 55 52 79 3206 |
| SODALI Peter Ogden | Tel: +44 (0)7793 858 211 |