Hochschild Mining PLC

Reported H1 hard numbers included production of a little over 150,000 oz, revenue of $844 million, adjusted EBITDA of $492 million, and EPS of $0.37. Attributable all-in sustaining cash cost was $2,448 per ounce gold equivalent, cash and short-term investments were $309 million, and net cash was $51 million. The company also said free cash flow was about $156 million, interim dividend was $0.04 per share, and full-year AISC guidance was revised to $2,380-$2,500/oz while production guidance was unchanged. Capital expenditure guidance for the year was maintained at $210 million-$225 million. Management said the H1 strength was driven mainly by higher gold and silver prices and stronger operations, especially the recovery in Brazil, while revenue was partly offset by scheduled lower ounces produced. Cost pressure came from royalties, profit sharing, FX, inflation, and the Mara Rosa recovery spend; cash taxes paid were $129 million, with about $70-$80 million of that relating to 2025 tax regularization.

Eduardo Landin framed H1 as the company’s strongest ever half-year financial performance and emphasized execution across the portfolio. He highlighted Mara Rosa’s operational turnaround, continued work on Monte do Carmo, the filing of Royropata’s environmental permit, and a disciplined capital allocation approach that includes dividend payments, debt reduction, and funding growth. His tone was upbeat and confident, but he repeatedly stressed that cost inflation and price-linked taxes/royalties required active efficiency work.

Eduardo Noriega said revenue growth was mainly driven by stronger gold and silver prices, partly offset by scheduled lower production, while cost of sales rose 11% due to higher tonnage at Mara Rosa and price-linked items such as royalties, worker profit sharing, and export tax. He said H1 free cash flow was around $156 million, debt fell by $80 million, and ending cash/short-term investments reached $309 million; he also noted $84 million of dividends were paid, including $58 million to the San Jose JV partner. On costs, he broke out AISC of $1,953/oz at Inmaculada, $2,944/oz at San Jose, and $3,551/oz at Mara Rosa, and said about 60% of the AISC increase was due to higher prices and 40% to FX/local inflation. He said admin expenses should be similar in H2, working capital should improve in the second half, and cash tax payments in H2 should be similar to or slightly higher than H1 excluding the 2025 tax regularization.

Analysts focused on admin costs, working capital, cash taxes, the interim dividend, Mara Rosa’s normalized run rate, Monte do Carmo’s FID timing, and Royropata’s permitting timeline. Management said admin expenses should stay roughly similar in H2, working capital typically improves toward year-end, and H2 cash taxes should be similar to or slightly higher than H1 excluding the prior-year tax catch-up. On the dividend, management stressed the policy is annual rather than a straight H1 formula, so the interim payment is intentionally smaller than a full-year pro rata calculation would suggest. For Mara Rosa, they said the mine should run at least 7,000 tpd, with the upper end of guidance driven mainly by grades rather than throughput, and for Monte do Carmo they reiterated end-2028 first production after FID at year-end; on Royropata they said permit approval is expected around a year after submission, with community engagement still ahead.