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Southern Copper Corporation SCCO reported fourth-quarter 2024 earnings of $1.01 per share, which marginally missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.02. The bottom line, however, marked a 74% surge from the year-ago quarter. Results were driven by higher sales volumes for copper, zinc and silver, and improved prices. SCCO’s fourth-quarter performance was partially hurt by a decline in the molybdenum sales volume.
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Southern Copper’s Sales Volumes & Margins Rise Y/Y in Q4
Southern Copper Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Southern Copper Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Southern Copper Corporation Quote
The company posted sales of $2.784 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.780 billion. The top line increased 21.3% year over year.
SCCO reported a 59.4% year-over-year jump in zinc sales volumes. Molybdenum volumes edged down 2.1%, while silver volumes improved 21.6%. Copper sales volumes moved up 5.4%.
The cost of sales rose 3.6% year over year to $1.21 billion. Operating profit in the fourth quarter was $1.31 billion, reflecting 50.5% year-over-year growth. The operating margin in the reported quarter was 47% compared with 37.8% in the year-ago quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA improved 42.7% year over year to $1.51 billion in fourth-quarter 2024. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 54.1% compared with the year-ago quarter’s 46%.
SCCO’s Production Details
Copper: Southern Copper mined 238,888 tons of copper in the reported quarter, up 2.1% year over year. Copper sales improved 5.4% year over year to 229,206 tons.
Copper production for the year was 973,851 tons, up 6.9% year over year. This was driven by higher production at Peruvian operations and Mexican operations. Sales rose 5.5% year over year to 938,528 tons.
Molybdenum: The company mined 6,994 tons of molybdenum in the reported quarter, reflecting a year-over-year fall of 2.6%. Sales were 7,008 tons in the quarter under review, down 2.1% from the fourth quarter of 2023.
SCCO produced 28,997 tons of molybdenum in 2024, which was 8.1% higher than that reported in 2023, driven by higher production at each of the mines, barring La Caridad. Molybdenum sales were 29,011 tons, up 7.9% year over year.
Zinc: The company’s zinc production skyrocketed 154.9% year over year to 43,148 tons in the quarter under review. Zinc sales increased 59.4% year over year to 42,120 tons in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Zinc production surged 98.5% year over year to 130,011 tons in 2024. Sales improved 44.6% to 144,139 tons.
Silver: Southern Copper’s silver production improved 18.3% year over year to 5.68 million ounces, while sales rose 21.6% year over year to 5.392 million ounces.
In 2024, silver production improved 14% to 20.983 million ounces from the 2023 levels. Sales improved 15.7% year over year to 20.842 million ounces.