Gold producer
Agnico-Eagle Limited
(
AEM
) announced that it has selected Q9 Networks to deliver high
availability co-location services in support of its critical IT
systems. These co-location services will be crucial for a new
hybrid cloud solution, especially designed for Agnico-Eagle's IT
systems such as ERP, financial and web-based applications.
Agnico-Eagle offers an improved level of private as well as
public cloud-based IT services to its users but lacked data
center infrastructure to achieve reliability targets
consistently. Q9 Networks develops and operates its data centers
to address the challenging IT infrastructure needs of increased
power and cooling demands in high density computing devices. It
was selected over other data center providers mainly because of
its power and network time guarantees, high level of security and
ability to meet the audit requirements.
With the services of Q9 on board, Agnico-Eagle intends to
consolidate its IT and infrastructure from two internal
facilities to a Q9 data center in Toronto. Consistent with this
consolidation, Q9 will offer a secure physical space, highly
reliable power, bandwidth and "round the clock" monitoring to
facilitate optimum performance and fidelity for all
Agnico-Eagle's business systems.
Agnico-Eagle operates with nearly 5,000 employees. The intended
co-location at Q9 will do away with the complexities of managing
multiple facilities, reduce expenses and provide secure access to
critical IT systems for employees around the globe.
Agnico-Eagle's third-quarter 2012 results, released in Oct 2012,
were impressive as both revenues and adjusted earnings outpaced
the Zacks Consensus Estimates. The company's adjusted earnings
(excluding one-time items other than stock-based compensation
expenses) for the quarter were 63 cents per share,
comprehensively beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 40 cents.
The company turned to a profit of $106.3 million (or 62 cents per
share) in the quarter from a loss of $81.6 million (or 48 cents a
share) a year ago, riding on strong gold production and healthy
performance across its mines. Consolidated revenues rose roughly
4.3% year over year to $537.8 million, beating the Zacks
Consensus Estimate of $436 million.
The company saw record production at its gold mines in Meadowbank
in northern Canada and Pinos Altos in northern Mexico during the
quarter. It raised its gold production target for 2012.
Agnico-Eagle has rebounded from a series of underperformances
in 2011, which was partly attributable to the closure of its
Goldex mine due to safety issues. The company maintains a solid
exploration budget and is reinvesting in its assets to expand
output.
However, any potential delay associated with the development
projects may jeopardize future production. Moreover,
uncertainties surrounding the Goldex mine could affect the
stock's performance.
Agnico-Eagle retains a short-term (1 to 3 months) Zacks Rank
#4 (Sell). Other companies in the gold mining industry worth
considering are
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.
(
AU
),
DRDGOLD Ltd.
(
DRD
) and
Franco-Nevada Corporation
(
FNV
). All these companies hold a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
AGNICO EAGLE (AEM): Free Stock Analysis
Report
ANGLOGOLD LTD (AU): Free Stock Analysis
Report
DRDGOLD LTD (DRD): Free Stock Analysis Report
FRANCO NV CP (FNV): Free Stock Analysis
Report
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