Credit Suisse Reviews Barrick Gold's Earnings

In a report published Tuesday, Credit Suisse analysts maintained a Neutral rating on

, with a price target of $13, after the company announced its1Q results. Barrick Gold reported its 1Q15 EPS at $0.05, largely in-line with analyst estimates but lower than the Bloomberg consensus. The company's quarterly production and costs were slightly weaker than the estimate and offset by lower DD&A and tax expenses. Lower production from Goldstrike, Cortez, Pueblo Viejo and Kalgoorlie contributed to the company's lower-than-expected gold production for the first quarter. Lagunas Norte, however, delivered a nice beat. "ABX indicated production will be weighted 55% to H2/15, with costs 20% lower," the analysts mentioned. The company's copper production of 118Mlbs was below the Credit Suisse estimate of 136Mlbs due to heavy rainfall in Chile. Copper cash costs of $1.84/lb were in-line with the estimate of $1.85/lb. The company reiterated its 2015 gold guidance, raised it for copper and trimmed its capex. "Gold guidance of 6.2-6.6Moz, cash costs of $600-$640/oz and AISC of $860-$895/oz were reiterated. Copper guidance increased to 480-520Mlbs from 310-340Mlbs on Lumwana's continuation. ABX trimmed $0.1B from capex, with $0.2B in savings offset by +$0.1B at Lumwana," the analysts wrote. Barrick Gold also reiterated its debt reduction target besides announcing the initiation of the Zaldivar sale partial divestiture process. The EPS estimates for 2015, 2016 and 2017 were raised from $0.41 to $0.47, from $0.64 to $0.66 and from $0.42 to $0.47, respectively, to reflect lower DD&A expenses.