VANCOUVER, Feb. 14, 2018 /CNW/ - GOLDCORP INC. (TSX: G, NYSE: GG) ("Goldcorp" or the "Company") is pleased to report its fourth quarter and full year 2017 results.

Fourth Quarter Highlights
•Net earnings were $242 million, or $0.28 per share, compared to net earnings of $101 million, or $0.12 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2016. Operating cash flows for the fourth quarter of 2017 were $511 million compared to $239 million for the same period in the prior year. Adjusted operating cash flows were $401 million(1) for the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to $306 million for the same period in the prior year.

•Gold production of 646,000 ounces at all-in sustaining costs ("AISC") of $870 per ounce, compared to 761,000 ounces at AISC of $747 per ounce for the fourth quarter of 2016(1). Gold production in 2017 exceeded the midpoint of the Company's gold production guidance of 2.5 million ounces, while AISC of $824 per ounce for 2017 was in line with the Company's improved midpoint guidance of $825(2) per ounce, reflecting the progress the Company has made on its sustainable efficiency program.

•Program to implement $250 million of sustainable annual efficiencies by the middle of 2018 is on track with nearly $200 million achieved in 2017 across the Company's portfolio. More than 100% of the $250 million of efficiencies have been identified, with the program likely to be extended and the efficiency target increased, after the Company achieves its current target.

•Solid reserve growth and project execution enhances confidence in the Company's 20/20/20 growth plan. An increase in proven and probable gold mineral reserves to 53.5 million ounces, plus strong project delivery of expansions at Peñasquito, Musselwhite and Porcupine (Borden) underpin our plan for a 20% increase in gold production, a 20% increase in gold reserves and a 20% reduction in AISC by 2021, while delivering increasing cash flows over the next four years. The Company also launched 'Beyond 20/20', investing in its long-term portfolio, including the Century, NuevaUnión and Norte Abierto projects, to continue to grow low-cost gold production from the Company's growing gold mineral reserves.

FINANCIAL AND OPERATING RESULTS

($ millions, except where indicated)
Three months ended December 31 Year ended December 31
2017 2016 2017 2016
Gold production(1) (ounces) 646,000 761,000 2,569,000 2,873,000
Gold sales(1) (ounces) 633,000 768,000 2,534,000 2,869,000
Operating cash flows $511 $239 $1,211 $799
Adjusted operating cash flows(1),(2) $401 $306 $1,344 $1,241
Net earnings $242 $101 $658 $162
Net earnings per share $0.28 $0.12 $0.76 $0.19
By-product cash costs(1),(3) (per ounce) $462 $481 $499 $573
AISC(1),(3) (per ounce) $870 $747 $824 $856

Net earnings and net earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2017 were affected by, among other things, the following non-cash or other items that management believes are not reflective of the performance of the underlying operations (items are denoted as having (increased)/decreased net earnings and net earnings per share in the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2017):

Three months ended December 31, 2017 Year ended December 31, 2017
($ millions, after tax) $/share ($ millions, after tax) $/share
Deferred tax recovery on Argentinian tax reform ($156) ($0.18) ($156) ($0.18)
Non-cash foreign exchange expense (recovery) on deferred tax balances $63 $0.07 ($83) ($0.10)
Net gain on disposition of mining interests($27)($0.03)($21)($0.02)
Net reversal of impairment($23)($0.03)($23)($0.03)
Gain from reduction in provision for Alumbrera's reclamation costs($12)($0.01)($38) ($0.04)

Please refer to the Company's financial statements, related notes and accompanying Management's Discussion and Analysis for a full review of its operations and projects. This can be accessed by clicking on this link: Q4-2017 MD&A and Financial Statements.

Footnotes
1. The Company has included certain performance measures, including non-GAAP performance measures on an attributable basis (Goldcorp share) throughout this release. Attributable performance measures include the Company's mining operations and projects and the Company's share from Pueblo Viejo, Alumbrera, Leagold and NuevaUnión.

2. Adjusted operating cash flows comprises Goldcorp's share of operating cash flows before working capital changes, calculated on an attributable basis to include the Company's share of Pueblo Viejo, Alumbrera, Leagold and NuevaUnión's operating cash flows before working capital changes. The Company believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with GAAP, the Company and certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance and ability to operate without reliance on additional external funding or use of available cash.

The following table provide a reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities in the consolidated financial statements to Goldcorp's share of adjusted operating cash flows:

Three months ended
December 31
($ millions) 2017 2016
Net cash provided by operating activities of continuing operations $511 $239
Change in working capital (188) (23)

Adjusted operating cash flows provided by Pueblo Viejo, Alumbrera, Leagold and NuevaUnión 78 90

Goldcorp's share of adjusted operating cash flows $401 $306

3.
"Cash costs: by product" per ounce and "AISC" per ounce are non-GAAP financial performance measures.

Cash costs: by-product:
Total cash costs: by-product incorporate Goldcorp's share of all production costs, including adjustments to inventory carrying values, adjusted for changes in estimates in reclamation and closure costs at the Company's closed mines which are non-cash in nature, and include Goldcorp's share of by-product silver, lead, zinc and copper credits, and treatment and refining charges included within revenue. Additionally, cash costs are adjusted for realized gains and losses arising on the Company's commodity and foreign currency contracts which the Company enters into to mitigate its exposure to fluctuations in by-product metal prices, heating oil prices and foreign exchange rates, which may impact the Company's operating costs.

In addition to conventional measures, the Company assesses this per ounce measure in a manner that isolates the impacts of gold production volumes, the by-product credits, and operating costs fluctuations such that the non-controllable and controllable variability is independently addressed. The Company uses total cash costs: by product per gold ounce to monitor its operating performance internally, including operating cash costs, as well as in its assessment of potential development projects and acquisition targets. The Company believes this measure provides investors and analysts with useful information about the Company's underlying cash costs of operations and the impact of by-product credits on the Company's cost structure and is a relevant metric used to understand the Company's operating profitability and ability to generate cash flow. When deriving the production costs associated with an ounce of gold, the Company includes by-product credits as the Company considers that the cost to produce the gold is reduced as a result of the by-product sales incidental to the gold production process, thereby allowing the Company's management and other stakeholders to assess the net costs of gold production.

The Company reports total cash costs: by-product on a gold ounces sold basis. In the gold mining industry, this is a common performance measure but does not have any standardized meaning. The Company follows the recommendations of the Gold Institute Production Cost Standard. The Gold Institute, which ceased operations in 2002, was a non-regulatory body and represented a global group of producers of gold and gold products. The production cost standard developed by the Gold Institute remains the generally accepted standard of reporting cash costs of production by gold mining companies.

AISC:
AISC include total production cash costs incurred at the Company's mining operations, which forms the basis of the Company's by-product cash costs. Additionally, the Company includes sustaining capital expenditures, corporate administrative expense, mine-site exploration and evaluation costs, and reclamation cost accretion and amortization. The measure seeks to reflect the full cost of gold production from current operations, therefore expansionary capital and non-sustaining expenditures are excluded. Certain other cash expenditures, including tax payments, dividends and financing costs are also excluded.

The Company believes that this measure represents the total costs of producing gold from current operations, and provides the Company and other stakeholders of the Company with additional information of the Company's operational performance and ability to generate cash flows. AISC, as a key performance measure, allows the Company to assess its ability to support capital expenditures and to sustain future production from the generation of operating cash flows. This information provides management with the ability to more actively manage capital programs and to make more prudent capital investment decisions.

The Company reports AISC on a gold ounces sold basis. This performance measure was adopted as a result of an initiative undertaken within the gold mining industry; however, this performance measure has no standardized meaning and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. The Company follows the guidance note released by the World Gold Council, which became effective January 1, 2014. The World Gold Council is a non-regulatory market development organization for the gold industry whose members comprise global senior gold mining companies.

The following tables provide a reconciliation of total cash costs: by product to reported production costs:

Three months ended December 31, 2017
($ millions unless stated otherwise)

see and read morte on
https://www.goldcorp.com/English/investors/news-releases/news-release-details/2018/Goldcorp-reports-fourth-quarter-2017-results/default.aspx