Annual General Meeting Statement

Fresnillo PLC

23 May 2023

 

                                                                                                                                               Fresnillo plc

21 Upper Brook Street

London W1K 7PY

United Kingdom

www.fresnilloplc.com

23 May 2023

Fresnillo plc - AGM Statement

Fresnillo plc will hold its Annual General Meeting today. Chairman Mr Alejandro Baillères will make the following statement:

"I am once again honoured to be presenting to you today in my second AGM as your Chairman.

Our Purpose is to contribute to the wellbeing of people through the sustainable mining of silver and gold. We remained committed to that Purpose in 2022, putting our people and our communities at the heart of everything we do.

I am pleased to say we delivered a resilient operating performance in the year, with our people rising to meet a number of external challenges while delivering on our production guidance.

Silver production was broadly comparable to the prior year, while gold production was lower. Both of these results were in line with our expectations. We have started 2023 well and we are confident in delivering on our guidance for the year.

Our financial results were impacted by industry pressures including volatile precious metal prices and higher cost inflation, along with the effects of the Labour Reform in Mexico.

We reported adjusted revenue of $2.6 billion, down 8.8% primarily due to the lower volumes of gold sold and the decrease in silver price, while Gross Profit also fell, reflecting lower prices and higher costs.

In line with our dividend policy, we declared an interim dividend of 3.40 US cents per share, with a final dividend of 13.30 US cents per share, bringing the total for the year to 16.70 US cents per share, totaling over $123 million.

We have adapted to the considerable challenges resulting from the Labour Reform, which required us to internalise, recruit and re-train a substantial proportion of our workforce. We also invested substantially into new equipment to address capacity constraints. Although this has been disruptive, the actions we took have proven effective and our mines are now fully staffed. We believe these changes will lead to a more cohesive and resilient workforce in the longer term.

The residual impact of the pandemic also caused a number of delays impacting our ability to complete tie-ins to the electricity grid of both our new Juanicipio mine and the Pyrites Plant at the Fresnillo mine.

We were pleased to complete the tie-in of Juanicipio late last year, while we expect to complete the same process at the Pyrites Plant this quarter.  

Juanicipio is an outstanding asset and is set to play an increasingly important role in our overall production profile as we ramp the mine up to capacity over the coming weeks.

In these difficult times, your Board has been a huge asset to Fresnillo and I thank them for their support.

In addition to the oversight of our handling of the pandemic, Labour Reform and delays to the commissioning process, your Board continues to push hard on important matters including our Diversity Programme and Sustainability strategy. Increasing the participation of women in our business is a key priority. The 'Women for Women Mentoring Programme' is now in place, and we are actively developing leadership and support networks. In 2020 we pledged to increase the overall representation of women in our workforce from 10% to 12% by 2025 and I am pleased to say we have already exceeded that target. We have further to go, particularly in increasing the number of women in more senior roles, but I am confident we have a robust framework in place to facilitate this transition.

On Sustainability we persist in our effort to improve safety and your Board has continued to develop a programme for monitoring and responding to the potential risks of tailings dams, as well as to climate-related risks and opportunities and our Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures obligations. We remain fully committed to decreasing carbon emissions and setting Science-Based Targets in the future, subject to Mexican energy policy. Our target is for wind power to provide 75% of our electricity by 2030 and we will continue to engage with the relevant Government authorities to help us deliver on that target.

Looking forward, we see a very busy and exciting year ahead. We will remain faithful to our strategy that has served us well. This means maximising the potential of our existing operations and delivering growth through development projects - all while advancing and enhancing the sustainability of our operations.

We continue to see opportunity for growth in our current portfolio, highlighted by the expected tie-in and commissioning of the Pyrites Plant at the Fresnillo mine and the continued ramp up of our new Juanicipio mine. Additionally, we are making good progress on advanced and priority early-stage projects in Mexico, Peru and Chile.

Above all however is our commitment to our Purpose that directs all our actions and ensures that we contribute to the wellbeing of all our stakeholders. 2023 will be a year not without its challenges. Like all companies we remain cautious about the outlook for the global economy, as well as mindful of the continued pressure of inflation, supply chain constraints, the tight labour market and other factors which will have an impact on our business. More recently for example, we have seen reform to the Mining Law in Mexico, though our preliminary analysis indicates there is no material impact for Fresnillo.

I am, however, confident that we will maintain the steady progress of the last 12 months. As always, I would like to close by thanking all our people for their commitment and hard work during the year and our shareholders for their 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: [phone]
Mexico City Office Ana Belem Zárate	Tel: [phone]
POWERSCOURT Peter Ogden	Tel: [phone]

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-Dipolos1, Noche Buena and San Julián (Veins and Disseminated Ore Body), one development project - the Pyrites Plant at Fresnillo, which has been completed and is awaiting tie-in of the plant to the national electricity grid, 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 has a strong and long tradition of exploring, mining, a proven track record of mine development, reserve replacement, and production costs in the lowest quartile of the cost curve for silver.

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.

LEI: 549300JXWH1UV5J0XV81

 

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