REG - Fresnillo Plc - Annual General Meeting Statement

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RNS Number : 3051J  Fresnillo PLC  20 May 2025

 
 
                                       Fresnillo plc

21 Upper Brook Street

London W1K 7PY

United Kingdom

www.fresnilloplc.com (http://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
(http://www.fresnilloplc.com) or contact:

 FRESNILLO PLC

 London Office                                                            Tel: +44 (0)20 7399 2470

 Gabriela Mayor, Head of Investor Relations

 Mark Mochalski

 Mexico City Office                                                       Tel: +52 55 52 79 3206

 Ana Belem Zárate

 SODALI                                                                   Tel: +44 (0)7793 858 211

 Peter Ogden

 

ABOUT FRESNILLO PLC

Fresnillo plc is the world's largest primary silver producer and Mexico's
largest gold producer, listed on the London and Mexican Stock Exchanges under
the symbol FRES.

Fresnillo plc has eight operating mines, all of them in Mexico - Fresnillo,
Saucito, Juanicipio, Ciénega, Herradura, Soledad-Dipolos(1), Noche Buena and
San Julián Veins and four advanced exploration projects - Orisyvo, Rodeo,
Guanajuato and Tajitos as well as a number of other long term exploration
prospects.

Fresnillo plc has mining concessions and exploration projects in Mexico, Peru
and Chile.

Fresnillo plc's goal is to maintain the Group's position as the world's
largest primary silver company and Mexico's largest gold producer.

( )

(1) Operations at Soledad-Dipolos are currently suspended.

 

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Information contained in this announcement may include 'forward-looking
statements'. All statements other than statements of historical facts included
herein, including, without limitation, those regarding the Fresnillo Group's
intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, amongst other things,
the Fresnillo Group's results of operations, financial position, liquidity,
prospects, growth, strategies and the silver and gold industries are
forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve risk and
uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and the
actual results of the Fresnillo Group's operations, financial position and
liquidity, and the development of the markets and the industry in which the
Fresnillo Group operates, may differ materially from those described in, or
suggested by, the forward-looking statements contained in this document. In
addition, even if the results of operations, financial position and liquidity,
and the development of the markets and the industry in which the Fresnillo
Group operates are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in
this document, those results or developments may not be indicative of results
or developments in subsequent periods. A number of factors could cause results
and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements including, without limitation, general economic and
business conditions, industry trends, competition, commodity prices, changes
in regulation, currency fluctuations (including the US dollar and Mexican Peso
exchanges rates), the Fresnillo Group's ability to recover its reserves or
develop new reserves, including its ability to convert its resources into
reserves and its mineral potential into resources or reserves, changes in its
business strategy and political and economic uncertainty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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