Royal Gold Reports Third Quarter 2018 Results

Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) (together with its subsidiaries, “Royal Gold” or the “Company,” “we” or “our”) reports a net loss of $153.7 million, or ($2.35) per share, on revenue of $116.0 million in its fiscal third quarter ended March 31, 2018 (“third quarter”). Third quarter reported earnings include non-cash charges of $184.9 million, net of tax. Absent these impacts, adjusted net income¹ was $31.3 million, or $0.48 per share, up 32% from the prior year quarter.

Third Quarter Highlights Compared to Prior Year Quarter:

• Revenue of $116 million, an increase of 8%
• Operating cash flow of $105 million, an increase of 37%
• Volume of 87,300 GEOs,² in line with the prior year quarter
• Dividends paid of $16 million, an increase of 5%
• Additional $75 million repaid on revolving credit facility
• Average gold price of $1,329 per ounce, an increase of 9%

“We delivered another quarter of solid operating performance, which included our first full quarter sales of gold and silver from Rainy River,” commented Tony Jensen, President and CEO. “While a non-cash impairment from Pascua-Lama impacted our reported earnings, we continue to believe that the project presents significant option value for Royal Gold shareholders. In the near term, we look forward to improved production from Rainy River as it continues to mature, as well as growth from the Peñasquito Pyrite Leach Project and Cortez Crossroads, which are both expected to begin production late this calendar year.”

Recent Developments

Peak Gold Joint Venture

As of April 24, 2018, Royal Gold, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Royal Alaska, LLC, owns a 40% interest in and manages the Peak Gold Joint Venture (“Peak Gold JV”), for exploration and development of the Peak Gold Project located near Tok, Alaska. CORE Alaska, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Contango Ore Inc. (“CORE”), owns a 60% interest in the Peak Gold JV. The approved exploration budget for 2018 is $9.1 million on a consolidated basis.

Royal Gold also owns net smelter return (“NSR”) royalties of 2.0% and 3.0% over separate areas comprising the Peak Gold Project, which has a maiden resource of 11.3 million tonnes grading 3.46 grams per tonne gold.³

In a separate transaction on April 5, 2018, Royal Gold entered into a purchase agreement with a private seller to purchase 809,744 shares of CORE common stock, equating to an approximately 13.6% equity interest in CORE.

Pascua-Lama

The Company owns a 0.78% to 5.45% sliding-scale NSR gold royalty and a 1.09% NSR copper royalty on the Pascua-Lama project, owned by Barrick Gold Corporation (“Barrick”). The project straddles the border of Chile and Argentina. Our royalty interests are applicable to all gold and copper production from the portion of the Pascua-Lama project lying on the Chilean side of the border.

On February 6, 2018, Barrick announced it reclassified Pascua-Lama’s proven and probable gold reserves⁴ of approximately 14 million ounces as measured and indicated resources.³ A significant reduction in reserves or mineralized material is an indicator of potential impairment.

On April 23, 2018, Barrick announced that work performed to date on the prefeasibility study for a potential underground project at Pascua-Lama was suspended. Barrick will continue to evaluate opportunities to de-risk the project while maintaining Pascua-Lama as an option for development in the future if economics improve and related risks can be mitigated.

An impairment charge of $239.4 million ($178.9 million net of taxes) was taken during the third quarter, resulting in a carrying value of $177.7 million as of March 31, 2018. As part of our impairment determination, the fair value for Pascua-Lama was estimated by calculating the net present value of future cash flows expected to be generated from mining the Pascua-Lama deposits subject to our royalty interest.

Wassa and Prestea

On April 12, 2018, Golden Star announced that it more than doubled its inferred mineral resource³ estimate for its Wassa underground mine in Ghana, to 5.2 million ounces of gold from 2.1 million ounces at year-end 2017.

Mount Milligan

As previously reported, Centerra Gold (“Centerra”) temporarily suspended mill operations at Mount Milligan on December 27, 2017 due to insufficient fresh water. Mill operations restarted on February 5, 2018 with a single ball mill, and the second ball mill restarted on March 23, 2018. Centerra reported on May 1, 2018 that Mount Milligan was operating at an average throughput of approximately 40,000 tonnes per day, and that once the spring snow melt is underway, throughput is expected to increase to a targeted average of 55,000 tonnes per day for the second half of the calendar year.

Centerra is pursuing more permanent permitting solutions to allow higher levels of pumping from current water sources and is developing additional ground water sources for Mount Milligan to proactively mitigate potential future water shortages during winter months.

Our third quarter results were not impacted by the temporary shutdown of the mill processing facility. Due to the timing of shipments and deliveries of gold and copper, we expect the impact of the temporary shutdown to be reflected in Royal Gold’s mid-calendar 2018 results, as some of the deliveries of gold and copper that were expected in the June through August 2018 period will be deferred to a later date.

Attributable Reserves

Royal Gold also announces updated estimates of ore reserves and mineralized material⁵ attributable to the Company’s stream, royalty and similar interests as of December 31, 2017. These figures are provided by the operators of properties on which the Company holds these interests, or are obtained by Royal Gold through publicly available information.

On a gold equivalent basis⁶, metals reserves attributable to Royal Gold were 6.3 million ounces, on a net reserve basis, at year end 2017, compared with 7.2 million ounces for the same period ended 2016. The reduction in reserves was principally due to the reclassification of reserves to resources at Pascua-Lama, as well as net depletion.

Third Quarter Overview

Third quarter revenue was $116.0 million compared to $107.0 million in the prior year quarter. Stream and royalty revenue totaled $83.0 million and $33.0 million, respectively, for the third quarter. Revenue increased due to higher gold and copper prices as well as increased stream sales from Wassa and Prestea, copper at Mount Milligan, and new production from Rainy River, partially offset by lower metal sales at Pueblo Viejo and Andacollo.

Third quarter ending inventory was comprised of 26,000 gold ounces and 659,000 silver ounces, an increase over the prior quarter due to deliveries received in late March. We expect our fiscal fourth quarter 2018 sales related to our streaming agreements to be in line with the third quarter as inventory is expected to be reduced according to our routine sales procedures, offsetting lower expected deliveries from Mount Milligan.

Third quarter cost of sales of $21.3 million was below the $22.4 million recorded in the prior year quarter, driven by lower portfolio gold and silver sales.

General and administrative expenses increased to $8.1 million in the third quarter, compared to $5.4 million in the prior year quarter. The increase was primarily related to an increase in legal costs of $1.3 million and an increase in non-cash compensation of $1.2 million.

Exploration costs, which are related to our Peak Gold JV, were $536,000 in the third quarter, a decrease from $2.7 million the prior year quarter, due to reduced field work during the winter months.

We recognized an income tax benefit totaling $45.9 million in the third quarter, compared with an income tax expense of $6.5 million in the prior year quarter. This resulted in an effective tax rate of 22.9% in the current period, compared with 23.2% in the prior year quarter. The third quarter tax benefit was related to the Pascua-Lama impairment and was somewhat offset by a $6 million increase to uncertain tax liabilities.

At March 31, 2018, we had current assets of $151.9 million compared to current liabilities of $43.5 million, resulting in working capital of $108.4 million. This compares to current assets of $165.5 million and current liabilities of $41.6 million at December 31, 2017, resulting in working capital of $123.9 million.

During the third quarter, liquidity needs were met from our available cash resources and $94.7 million in revenue net of our streaming payments. The Company repaid $75 million of the outstanding revolving credit facility during the quarter resulting in $925 million available and $75 million outstanding under the revolving credit facility as of March 31, 2018. Working capital, combined with the Company’s undrawn revolving credit facility, totaled approximately $1 billion of liquidity at March 31, 2018.

PROPERTY HIGHLIGHTS

A summary of third quarter and historical production reported by operators of our stream and royalty properties can be found on Tables 1 and 2. Calendar year 2018 operator production estimates of certain properties in which we have interests compared to actual production through March 31, 2018 can be found on Table 3. Results of our streaming business for the third quarter, compared to the prior year quarter, can be found on Table 4. Highlights at certain of the Company’s principal producing and development properties during the third quarter, compared to the prior year quarter, are detailed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K.

CORPORATE PROFILE

Royal Gold is a precious metals stream and royalty company engaged in the acquisition and management of precious metal streams, royalties and similar production based interests. The Company owns interests on 192 properties on six continents, including interests on 39 producing mines and 22 development stage projects. Royal Gold is publicly traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “RGLD.” The Company’s website is located at www.royalgold.com.

Note: Management’s conference call reviewing the third quarter results will be held on Thursday, May 3, 2018, at noon Eastern Time (10:00 a.m. Mountain Time). The call will be webcast and archived on the Company’s website for a limited time.

Third Quarter Earnings Call Information:

Cautionary “Safe Harbor” Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: With the exception of historical matters, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from projections or estimates contained herein. Such forward-looking statements include statements about Barrick’s reclassification of gold reserves to mineralized material at Pascua-Lama and suspension of work on the underground project pre-feasibility study, the impact of the Company’s non-cash impairment of the Pascua-Lama royalty, and the option value of the Pascua-Lama project for the Company’s shareholders; improved production at Rainy River; growth from production at the Peñasquito Pyrite Leach Project and at Cortez Crossroads, and expected commencement of production at each; anticipated exploration spending at the Peak Gold Project and mineral resources reported for the Project; the agreement to purchase shares of CORE; the increase in estimated inferred mineral resource for Wassa underground; the impact of the temporary shutdown and subsequent restart of mill processing operations at Mount Milligan; and operators’ production estimates for calendar year 2018. Net gold and metal reserves attributable to Royal Gold’s stream, royalty and other interests are subject to certain assumptions and, like reserves, do not reflect actual ounces that will be produced. Like any stream, royalty or similar interest on a non-producing or not-yet-in-development project, our interests on development projects are subject to certain risks, such as the ability of the operators to bring the projects into production and operate in accordance with their feasibility studies and mine plans, and the ability of Royal Gold to make accurate assumptions regarding valuation and timing and amount of payments. In addition, many of our interests are subject to risks associated with conducting business in a foreign country, including application of foreign laws to contract and other disputes, foreign environmental laws and enforcement and uncertain political and economic environments. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections include, among others, precious metals, copper and nickel prices; performance of and production at the Company's stream and royalty properties, including gold and copper production at Mount Milligan and gold and silver production at Pueblo Viejo; the ability of operators to finance project construction to completion and bring projects into production as expected, including development stage mining properties, mine and mill expansion projects and other development and construction projects; operators’ delays in securing or inability to secure or maintain necessary governmental permits; decisions and activities of the operators of the Company's stream and royalty properties; unanticipated grade, environmental, geological, seismic, metallurgical, processing, liquidity or other problems the operators of the Company’s stream and royalty properties may encounter; operators’ inability to access sufficient raw materials, water or power; changes in operators’ project parameters as plans continue to be refined; changes in estimates of reserves and mineralization by the operators of the Company’s stream and royalty properties; contests to the Company’s stream and royalty interests and title and other defects in the properties where the Company holds stream and royalty interests; errors or disputes in calculating stream deliveries and royalty payments, or deliveries or payments not made in accordance with stream and royalty agreements; economic and market conditions; changes in laws governing the Company and its stream and royalty interests or the operators of the properties subject to such interests, and other subsequent events; as well as other factors described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Most of these factors are beyond the Company’s ability to predict or control. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement made herein. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Statement Regarding Third-Party Information: Certain information provided in this press release, including production estimates for calendar 2018, has been provided to us by the operators of the relevant properties or is publicly available information filed by these operators with applicable securities regulatory bodies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission. Royal Gold has not verified, and is not in a position to verify, and expressly disclaims any responsibility for, the accuracy, completeness or fairness of such third-party information and refers the reader to the public reports filed by the operators for information regarding those properties.

SCHEDULE A

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Non-GAAP financial measures are intended to provide additional information only and do not have any standard meaning prescribed by generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). These measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Adjusted Net (Loss) Income Reconciliation

Management of the Company uses adjusted net income (loss) to evaluate the Company’s operating performance, and for planning and forecasting future business operations. The Company believes the use of adjusted net income (loss) allows investors and analysts to understand the results relating to receipt of revenue from its royalty interests and purchase and sale of gold from its streaming interests by excluding certain items that have a disproportionate impact on our results for a particular period. The net income (loss) adjustments are presented net of tax generally at the Company’s statutory effective tax rate. Management’s determination of the components of adjusted net income (loss) are evaluated periodically and based, in part, on a review of non-GAAP financial measures used by mining industry analysts. Net income (loss) attributable to Royal Gold stockholders is reconciled to adjusted net income (loss) as follows:

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Royal Gold, Inc.
Karli Anderson, 303-575-6517
Vice President Investor Relations