Fresnillo PLC on Tuesday announced a rise in revenue for the first-half of 2024, and it backed output guidance.

The Mexico-focused precious metals producer Fresnillo reported an 11% increase in revenue to $1.49 billion for the six months that ended June 30, up from $1.34 billion a year before.

Pretax profit multiplied, rising to $277.8 million from $47.9 million a year prior.

The firm noted that gold and silver prices rose during the period, with the average realised silver price climbing 18% to $27.62 per ounce, and gold improving 11% to $2,172.91 an ounce.

An ounce of gold fetched $2,389.10 around Tuesday morning UK time, while silver traded at $27.92 an ounce.

Gold production in the second-quarter alone decreased by 15% year-on-year to 130,025 ounces from 152,380 ounces and by 7.7% from 140,847 ounces in the first quarter, the firm disclosed last week Wednesday.

Silver production decreased 1.4% to 14.7 million ounces in the second quarter of 2024 from 14.9 million a year before. However, production rose 8.4% from 13.5 million in the first quarter.

Lead production increased 21% annually to 16,906 tonnes from 13,994 tonnes and rose 13% quarterly from 14,924 tonnes. Zinc production rose 14% annually to 29,240 tonnes from 25,670 tonnes, and rose 12% quarterly from 26,157 tonnes.

Additionally, Fresnillo declared an interim dividend of 6.40 US cents, up from 1.40 a year before.

Going forward, Fresnillo said it remains ‘on track’ to meet full year production guidance.

Silver production is expected to be between 55.0 and 62.0 million ounces, and gold production between 580,000 and 630,000 ounces. This would compare with 56.3 million ounces of silver and 610,646 ounces of gold produced in 2023.

Chief Executive Officer Octavio Alvidrez commented: ‘I am pleased to report an increase in profitability over the period, driven by a steady production performance combined with careful cost management and higher gold and silver prices... We remain confident in the outlook. We are on track to meet full year production guidance, and we are committed to managing our operations efficiently without compromising on the safety of our people or on continued investment into our longer term growth pipeline.’

Shares in Fresnillo were slightly lower at 571.89 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

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