TORONTO, Nov. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- “Dundee is pleased to announce a strong and transformative quarter, marked by broad positive performance in our core investment portfolio and key initiatives that further align our capital structure with our long-term growth objectives." said Jonathan Goodman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dundee Corporation. “During the quarter, we sold 11 million shares of our position in G Mining Ventures Corp. for proceeds of $95.9 million, which was partially used to redeem both classes of our preferred shares and substantially pay down our outstanding loan balance. The redemption of the preferred shares is a significant milestone, enhancing our financial flexibility and positioning the company for continued, sustainable growth for the long-term. In addition, we backstopped an $8.0 million rights offering for Maritime Resources Corp. to support the company’s strategic plan to substantially derisk the restart of the Hammerdown Mine and, in the process, increased our ownership interest in the company to 43% on an undiluted basis. Furthermore, we have continued to make progress on divesting our non-core assets with the sale of our flow-through funds. This will further streamline our operations and, importantly, allow us to place even greater focus on executing our core strategy."
“Our success in the current quarter underscores the strength of our core strategy, driven by strong investment performance amidst record gold prices and continued progress on cost reduction efforts. We foresee numerous opportunities on the horizon, as the market, in our opinion, continues to undervalue companies engaged in the discovery and development of high-quality precious metals, as well as base metals and strategic resources. We see a compelling value proposition in the disconnect between metals prices and mining stocks. Given the opportunity set we are seeing, while we have more ideas than capital, we remain very focused on our core asset base. We are committed to long-term investments in high-quality projects, acting as advisors and partners to our investee companies to maximize asset value and achieve their full potential.”
Mr. Goodman concluded: “The entire team at Dundee continues to work diligently to implement and execute our strategy across all fronts. I am encouraged by our ability to sustain and grow our momentum in 2024 as we look forward to the opportunities ahead of us. Our team remains committed to growing the core business, and positioning Dundee to deliver long-term, sustainable value for our stakeholders, shareholders and partners. I would like to thank the entire team for their hard work in navigating a time of continued evolution.”
SOLID THIRD QUARTER AND FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2024 RESULTS
- In August 2024, the Corporation sold 11,000,000 shares of G Mining Ventures Corp. (“GMIN”) for net proceeds to the Corporation of $95.9 million. The Corporation continues to hold 2,919,921 shares of GMIN.
- Upon the sale of GMIN, the Corporation partially repaid $14.0 million of its outstanding loan with Earlston Investments Corp.
- In September 2024, the Corporation paid an aggregate of $46.7 million to exercise its option to redeem all its outstanding Preference Shares Series 2 and Preference Shares Series 3 at a price of $25.00 per share and pay the final associated dividends, saving the Corporation approximately over $4.0 million per annum in dividend and associated tax payments.
- In September 2024, Dundee backstopped an $8.0 million rights offering for Maritime Resources Corp. (“Maritime”) and made purchases pursuant to private agreements to acquire approximately 253.0 million common shares of the company and increase our undiluted ownership interest to 43%. The Corporation earned 33.2 million compensation warrants for backstopping the rights offering.
- Reported net income from portfolio investments for the third quarter of 2024 of $10.1 million (2023 – loss of $24.7 million). The key drivers of performance during the quarter included a $5.8 million market appreciation in the Corporation’s investment in Ausgold Limited (“Ausgold”), a $4.9 million investment gain in Saturn Metals Limited (“Saturn”) and a $4.6 million investment gain in Greenheart Gold Inc. (“Greenheart”). For the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Corporation reported net income from portfolio investments of $68.0 million (2023 – loss of $22.2 million). The top performer of 2024 was the $53.6 million fair value gain in Reunion Gold Corporation.
- On October 7, 2024, the Corporation announced the completion of the sale of 8,000 shares of TauRx to a private investor at a price of US$125.00 per share for proceeds of US$1.0 million (Cdn$1.4 million).
- Reported consolidated general and administrative expenses for the third quarter of $4.3 million (2023 – $4.6 million). Excluding share-based compensation of $0.8 million (2023 – $0.5 million), consolidated general and administrative expenses declined 16% year-over-year. For the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Corporation reported consolidated general and administrative expenses of $12.5 million (2023 – $13.6 million).
- Reported net earnings attributable to owners of the Corporation for the third quarter of 2024 of $7.3 million (2023 – loss of $26.5 million), or earnings of $0.07 per share (2023 – a loss of $0.31 per share). For the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Corporation reported net earnings attributable to owners of the Corporation of $67.3 million (2023 – loss of $36.0 million), or earnings of $0.73 per share (2023 – a loss of $0.43 per share).
SEGMENTED FINANCIAL RESULTS
Mining Investments
In the third quarter of 2024, the Corporation reported net earnings before taxes from the mining investments segment of $10.4 million (2023 – loss of $23.3 million). Performance from the mining portfolio investments generated income of $9.0 million (2023 – loss of $25.6 million), which is included in net earnings or loss from this segment. Notable performers during the quarter include gains of $5.8 million in Ausgold, $4.9 million in Saturn and $4.6 million in Greenheart, respectively, offset by a $9.8 million loss in GMIN. The share of income from equity accounted mining investments during the third quarter of 2024 was $0.7 million (2023 – $3,000).
During the first nine months of 2024, the Corporation reported net earnings before taxes from the mining investments segment of $65.8 million (2023 – loss of $22.4 million). Performance from the mining investments portfolio contributed $65.1 million (2023 – loss of $22.7 million) to net earnings or loss before taxes in this segment. The key driver of performance during this period was a $53.6 million market appreciation in the Corporation’s investment in Reunion Gold Corporation. The share of loss from equity accounting mining investments during the first nine months 2024 was $0.1 million (2023 – $1.9 million).
Corporate and others
The Corporation reported pre-tax losses from the corporate and others segment, including non-core subsidiaries, of $2.0 million (2023 – $3.5 million) during the three months ended September 30, 2024. During the first nine months of 2024, the corporate and others segment reported pre-tax earnings of $6.0 million (2023 – loss of $11.7 million).
The fair value of non-mining portfolio investments in the corporate and others segment increased by $1.2 million (2023 – $0.9 million) during the third quarter of the current year. The fair value of portfolio investments in this segment increased by $2.8 million (2023 – $0.5 million) during the first nine months of 2024.
In the third quarter, the segment’s non-mining equity accounted investments reported pre-tax earnings of $0.7 million (2023 – loss of $0.6 million). During the same period, the segment’s subsidiaries reported pre-tax losses of $0.4 million (2023 – $1.1 million). During the first nine months of 2024, the segment’s non-mining equity accounted investments and subsidiaries reported pre-tax losses of $0.4 million (2023 – $2.1 million) and $1.2 million (2023 – $3.1 million), respectively.
Mining Services
During the three months ended September 30, 2024, the mining services segment, comprised of the Corporation’s 78%-owned subsidiary, Dundee Sustainable Technologies Inc. (“Dundee Technologies”), reported a pre-tax loss of $0.8 million (2023 – $0.6 million). During the first nine months of 2024, Dundee Technologies incurred a pre-tax loss of $3.4 million (2023 – $3.1 million).
SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY ON A PER SHARE BASIS
| | | | | | |
| Carrying value as at | September 30, 2024 | | December 31, 2023 | |
| Mining Investments | | | | |
| Portfolio investments | $ | 96,530 | | $ | 126,671 | | |
| Equity accounted investments | | 27,262 | | | 15,731 | | |
| Royalty | | 18,921 | | | 18,921 | | |
| | | | 142,713 | | | 161,323 | | |
| Corporate and Others | | | | |
| Corporate | | 39,418 | | | 18,342 | | |
| Portfolio investments other | | 71,311 | | | 68,482 | | |
| Equity accounted investments other | | 26,921 | | | 28,874 | | |
| Real estate joint ventures | | 2,977 | | | 2,852 | | |
| Subsidiaries | | 4,862 | | | 7,738 | | |
| | | | 145,489 | | | 126,288 | | |
| Mining Services | | | | |
| Subsidiaries | | 3,036 | | | 2,439 | | |
| Equity accounted investment | | - | | | 98 | | |
| | | | 3,036 | | | 2,537 | | |
| | | | | | |
| SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY | $ | 291,238 | | $ | 290,148 | | |
| Less: Shareholders' equity attributable to holders of: | | | | |
| | Preference Shares, series 2 | | - | | | (27,667 | ) | |
| | Preference Shares, series 3 | | - | | | (18,125 | ) | |
| SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY ATTRIBUTABLE TO CLASS A SUBORDINATE SHARES AND CLASS B SHARES OF THE CORPORATION | $ | 291,238 | | $ | 244,356 | | |
| | | | | | |
| Number of shares of the Corporation issued and outstanding: | | | | |
| | Class A Subordinate Shares | | 86,279,255 | | | 85,832,805 | | |
| | Class B Shares | | 3,114,491 | | | 3,114,491 | | |
| Total number of shares issued and outstanding | | 89,393,746 | | | 88,947,296 | | |
| | | | | | |
| SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY ON A PER SHARE BASIS * | $ | 3.26 | | $ | 2.75 | | |
*Shareholders' Equity on a per share basis is calculated as total shareholders