09:46:19 EDT Fri 29 Mar 2024
Enter Symbol
or Name
USA
CA



Barrick Gold Corp
Symbol ABX
Shares Issued 1,166,577,478
Close 2018-03-02 C$ 14.88
Market Cap C$ 17,358,672,873
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Barrick Gold upgraded by Moody's to Baa2, stable

2018-03-02 08:35 ET - News Release

Mr. Andy Lloyd reports

MOODY'S UPGRADES BARRICK TO BAA2 WITH STABLE OUTLOOK

Moody's Investors Service has upgraded the senior unsecured ratings of Barrick Gold Corp. and all rated subsidiaries to Baa2 from Baa3, with a stable outlook. All amounts expressed in U.S. dollars.

In a news release announcing the upgrade, Moody's cited Barrick's low adjusted leverage, large scale, diverse and low-cost gold assets, free cash flow generation, and favourable geopolitical risk profile, noting, "Barrick's liquidity is excellent, which provides significant flexibility to maneuver through gold price volatility."

"We are pleased that Moody's has recognized our efforts to significantly reduce the company's total debt, while substantially improving liquidity and free cash flow generation," said Barrick president Kelvin Dushnisky. "Over the past three years, we have reduced our total debt by more than 50 per cent, from $13.1-billion at the end of 2014, to $6.4-billion today."

The company's goal remains to reduce total debt to around $5-billion by the end of 2018, primarily by using cash flow from operations and cash on hand, and potentially through further portfolio optimization. Barrick will continue to pursue debt reduction with discipline, taking only those actions that make sense for the business, on terms favourable to the company's shareholders.

At the end of the fourth quarter, Barrick had a consolidated cash balance of approximately $2.2-billion. The company has less than $100-million in debt due before 2020 (1). More than three-quarters of Barrick's outstanding total debt of $6.4-billion does not mature until after 2032.

We seek Safe Harbor.

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