OceanaGold Corporation (OGC) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello, and welcome to the Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders of OceanaGold Corporation. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Paul Benson, chair of OceanaGold Corporation. Mr. Benson, the floor is yours.

Thank you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Paul Benson. And as Chair of the Board of OceanaGold Corporation, I'd like to welcome you to today's Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders. Over the last 12 months, OceanaGold has undergone a significant transformation. The renewal of the financial or technical assistance agreement in the Philippines allowed the subsequent ramp-up of the Didipio operations that was achieved well ahead of expectations. The completion of the Haile technical review with a new optimized mine plan sets a new platform from which management will continue to seek opportunities to further add value at Haile. There were also significant changes to the Board in 2021 as well as the commencement 2 months ago of our new President and CEO, Gerard Bond. Gerard is a highly seasoned mining executive, with extensive experience in the global resources industry, having most recently been Finance Director and CFO for Newcrest Mining Limited between 2012 and 2022. Before this, Gerard's been around 15 years of BHP in various executive roles. His proven track record of improving performance and maximizing business potential will be instrumental in unlocking OceanaGold's full value, and the directors are very pleased to have him on board. Looking forward to 2022, our top priorities are the safely and responsibly deliver on our production guidance, progress our organic growth projects, maximize free cash flow generation, reduce our net debt and recommence returns to our shareholders. You'll hear more of the company from Gerard in his CEO presentation after we complete the formal business of the meeting. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all OceanaGold employees and contractors for their hard work during the year. I would also like to thank our shareholders for their continued support of the company through a challenging phase and look forward to delivering on our commitments and enhancing shareholder returns. As it is now past 9:00 a.m. Canadian Eastern Daylight Time and a quorum is present, I declare the meeting open. To begin, I'll introduce my fellow directors on the call today. Mr. Ian Reid joined the company in April of 2018 and was Chair of the Board between June 2018 and September 2021. Ian brings more than 30 years' experience in managing the successful growth and operations of major multinational companies. Ian Chairs the Sustainability Committee and is a member of the Governance and Nomination Committee and Technical Committee. Mr. Craig Nelsen joined the company in February 2019. Craig brings over 45 years exploration management and capital markets experience. He chairs our Remuneration, People and Culture Committee and is a member of our Sustainability Committee and Technical Committee. Ms. Catherine Gignac joined the company in August 2019 with more than 30 years of capital markets experience, including an extensive career as a mining equity research analyst with leading global brokerage firms. Catherine chairs our Governance and Nomination Committee and is a member of our Audit and Financial Risk Management Committee and Remuneration People and Culture Committee. Ms. Sandra Dodds was appointed as a non-Executive Director of the company in November 2020. She has over 25 years of operational and finance experience as an executive responsible for the strategy, operations and performance across Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Ms. Dodds is the Chair of the Audit and Financial Risk Management Committee and is a member of the Remuneration People and Culture Committee as well as the Sustainability Committee. Mr. Mick McMullen was appointed non-Executive Director in May of 2021. As a geologist with more than 30 years of experience in the exploration, development, financing and operation of mining projects across Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, Mick is Chair of the Technical Committee and is a member of the Audit and Financial Risk Management Committee as well as Governance and Nominations Committee. And finally, Mr. Gerard Bond, President and CEO of OceanaGold since April 2022, who I briefly introduced earlier. For today's meeting, all the current directors of OceanaGold, including myself, will be seeking election or reelection to the Board. Also on the call today are members of our executive management team: Mr. Scott McQueen, Chief Financial Officer; Mr. Scott Sullivan, Chief Operating Officer; Ms. Sharon Flynn, Executive Vice President of Sustainability; Mr. Craig Feebrey, Executive Vice President, Exploration and Development; Mr. Graham Almond, Chief Officer of People, Culture and Technology; and Liang Tang, General Counsel and Company Secretary. We also have Ben Gargett, signing partner of Oceana's annual audit from our auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers in Australia on the call today. At this point, I advise for governance purposes, particularly considering the various locations from which attendees are joining us today and as provided for in the company's constitution, I exercise the right to call for a poll on all resolutions. Today, we'll be using Computershare AGM app to allow attendees to view the webcast, submit questions and for registered shareholders and proxy holders to cast votes on the items of business. Pressing the Q&A icon will open the messaging facility. From here, you can send in questions and comments. Please note that due to the time available, we may not address all questions sent through. When we arrive at the formal business of the meeting, I'll call for a poll to be opened on all items. For registered shareholders and proxy holders, the resolutions will appear in your app, along with a for and withhold or for and against voting options depending on the resolution. Simply select one of these options to cast your vote. You can change your vote as many times as you wish up until the close of the polls. Any third-party proxies appointed by the registered shareholders for this meeting should vote in the same manner. The voting option selected via the app will cause any discretionary vote you may hold to be casted selected. Underlying instructions from holders will automatically be cast at the close of polls. When voting is closed, the final voting selection entered into your app will be recorded. These votes will be added to proxy votes received prior to the meeting. The results of the meeting will be tabulated and announced to the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Australian Stock Exchange after the conclusion of the meeting. If you're logged in with Computershare, you can switch between screens at the presentation, voting resolutions and messages and questions from attendees. If there is a pertinent question from shareholders through the Computershare dashboard, I will voice it at the meeting at the appropriate time and respond to that. We'll now move to the formal business of the meeting. I've requested Liang Tang, Company Secretary, to serve as recording Secretary for the meeting. Jenny Karim of Computershare Investor Services, the registrar and transfer agent for the company, is present and will act as scrutineer for the meeting. We will first consider the financial statements of the company for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2021 and the auditor's report. This is a nonbinding item for a discussion and does not require a vote. If there is no discussion, we'll move on to the next order of business. We will now open the voting on the 3 resolutions specified in the AGM Notice of Meeting and Management Information Circular. You can vote for or withhold on the first 2 resolutions. The app will now display the resolutions and your voting options. Voting will remain open during the discussion of the resolutions. I'll also provide you with notice that the polls are about to close. Resolution 1, election of directors. To consider and, if thought fit, pass the following 7 items as ordinary resolutions. Details of the person seeking election and reelection are set out in the Notice of Meeting and Management Information Circular. Item 1, that Paul Benson be reelected as a director. I note that management holds 457,560,090 proxy votes in favor and 7,488,724 withhold votes. Are there any questions to the resolution? Thank you. Item 2, Mr. Ian Reid to be reelected as a director. I note that management holds 447,294,778 proxy votes in favor and 17,754,036 withholding votes. Are there any questions to the resolution? Item 3, Mr. Craig Nelson to be reelected as a director. I note that management holds 462,029,612 proxy votes in favor and 3,019,202 withholding votes. Are there any questions to the resolution? Item 4, Ms. Catherine Gignac be reelected as a director. I note that the management holds 435,970,901 proxy votes in favor and 29,077,913 withholding votes. Are there any questions to the resolution? Item 5, Ms. Sandra Dodds be reelected as a director. I note that management holds 459,641,851 proxy votes in favor and 5,406,963 withholding votes. Are there any questions to the resolution? Item 6, that Mr. Mick McMullen be reelected as a director. I note that management holds 427,903,448 proxy votes in favor and 37,145,366 withholding votes. Are there any questions in relation to the resolution? Item 7, that Mr. Gerard Bond be elected as a director. I note that management holds 462,031,484 proxy votes in favor and 3,017,330 withholding votes. Are there any questions to the resolution? Moving on to Resolution 2, appointment of the auditor. To consider and, if though fit, pass the following resolution as an ordinary resolution: to appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers as auditor of the company for the ensuing year and authorize the directors to fix their remuneration. I note that the management holds 523,610,687 proxy votes in favor and 6,456,445 withholding votes. Are there any questions in relation to the resolution? As there are no further discussion, we'll move to the final resolution. You can only vote for or against on the final resolution. Voting will remain open during the discussion of this resolution. I will also provide you with notice that the polls are about to close. Resolution 3 is the advisory vote on executive compensation. To consider, and, if thought fit, pass the following resolution as an ordinary resolution: the approval of the company's approach to executive compensation as disclosed in the accompanying management information circular. I note that the company holds 459,675,596 proxy votes in favor and 21,543,360 votes against. Are there any questions in relation to the resolution? As there is no further discussion, I will close the polls on the final resolution in a few moments. [Voting]

Ladies and gentlemen, I now declare the poll closed. We are pleased to announce that all resolutions have been passed. Detailed results of the meeting will be announced to the Toronto and Australian Stock Exchanges later today. Thank you once again for attending the meeting. I now declare this Annual General Meeting closed. I'll now invite Mr. Gerard Bond, President and CEO, to provide an update on the company.

Thank you, Paul, and good afternoon, good evening, good morning, everyone. I'm very happy to have joined OceanaGold at what I believe is a very exciting time for the company. Since I joined in early April, I've been to our Waihi and Macraes operations in New Zealand, our Haile operation in the United States twice as well as meeting many of our shareholders in the United States and Canada. I'll also be visiting Didipio later this month. What's clear to me is that OceanaGold has an attractive portfolio of assets each with a dedicated and talented management teams and people who are working hard to safely and responsibly maximize the value of each asset. As the Chairman said, 2021 marked the beginning of a turnaround at OceanaGold, which was demonstrated by the company achieving its annual production and cost guidance. We produced just under 363,000 ounces of gold at an all-in sustaining cost of $1,247 per ounce. We have built on this positive momentum in 2022 with a strong start that I'll talk about more later in this presentation. The operational performance in 2021 was underpinned by record annual production at Haile. This operation produced just under 190,000 ounces of gold, exceeding the upper end of its full year production guidance range of 180,000 ounces. The significant improvement can be attributed to a combination of a new leadership team who are implementing a multiyear plan of progressive operational productivity improvements as well as higher gold grades mined and processed. During 2021, the Haile technical review commenced with the results announced in early 2022. This comprehensive review addressed operational challenges and opportunities related to asset productivity, operating practice, operating costs and capital requirements and outlined a pathway to full value capture of the resource. The review demonstrated Haile has the potential to produce approximately 2.1 million ounces of gold over a mine life out to 2034 at an average all-in sustaining cost of approximately $1,080 per ounce. This is without taking into account any upside from further underground exploration success. Another key achievement in 2021 was the restart of our Didipio operation after the renewal of the financial or technical assistance agreement in July 2021. Work commenced to restart the underground mining process plant, both of which achieved full production rates during the first quarter of this year, which is ahead of schedule. This significant accomplishment reflects both the rapid return of many of our experienced local workforce as well as the investment made to maintain the site in the state of operational readiness during the FTAA renewal process. We are extremely pleased to have the Didipio operation back online and at full capacity. During 2021, we also continued to advance high-value organic growth projects, including the Haile Gold Mine [indiscernible] in New Zealand. At Haile, we continue to work with the regulatory authorities to progress the SEIS and necessary permits needed to commence the underground mine. And at [indiscernible] , we continued exploration drilling in order to further expand the resource. Last year's solid operational performance underpinned a strong underlying financial performance. Revenue increased 49% year-on-year. Earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortization increased 154% year-on-year, and adjusted net earnings increased 265% year-on-year. In the fourth quarter of last year, we also moved back into positive free cash flow, generating $22.8 million of free cash flow during the quarter. Moving on to the next slide. In parallel with improved operational and financial performance, the company has maintained a strong focus on doing so safely, responsibly and sustainably. Safety is at top priority. And last year, we maintained a low total recordable injury frequency rate of 3.4 million hours sorry, 3.4 per million hours worked. We've also been almost 6 years of operating without a fatality at any of our operations, and you can be sure that fatality prevention continues to be in the focus of our efforts to keep our people safe. Recognizing the realities, risks and opportunities associated with climate change, we have taken a number of actions. In 2020, OceanaGold set the goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. During 2021, we developed energy management plans at each of our operations to identify emissions reduction opportunities and set operation-based short-term targets. And in February this year, the company set an interim target to reduce carbon emissions per ounce of gold produced by 30% by 2030 based on 2019 performance levels. While we recognize there is a long way to go to achieve our net zero goal, our interim 2030 climate change target will help drive focus and innovation across the company to ensure we are doing our best in this area. In 2021, we also commenced alignment of our management and reporting of climate change effects in line with the recommendations of the task force on climate-related financial disclosures. Transparency and comprehensive reporting will continue to be our focus when demonstrating our commitment to safety, technical, environmental and social performance. Our tenth annual sustainability report was published last month and is available on our website. Moving on to the next slide. The achievements of 2021 provided a great platform to commence 2022, and OceanaGold is off to a great start of the year with the safe delivery of our first quarter results, which included record quarterly gold production at Haile, plus achieving full underground mining and processing rates at Didipio ahead of schedule. The strong operational performance in the period of high metal prices underpinned record quarterly revenue, record quarterly EBITDA and powered strong free cash flow generation. The strong free cash flow generation allowed us to significantly reduce our net debt, improve our key leverage metrics and strengthen our financial flexibility. Next slide. Our balance sheet at 31 March 2022 was in good shape. Subject to our operational performance and market conditions, we are well placed in the future to fund investment in high-return, value-accretive growth opportunities such as the Haile underground and [indiscernible], also to further strengthen the balance sheet by continuing to reduce debt and to provide returns to shareholders through any combination of dividends and share buybacks. Moving to the next slide -- on to the next slide. You can see that from a share price perspective, gold equities in general did not have a great year in calendar 2021 for a number of reasons. However, as this slide shows, when compared with our peers, we performed better than most in relative. On the next slide, you'll see -- if you turn to the next slide, I'm pleased to say that this relative performance has not only been stronger this year to date that is in 2022, but also strong in absolute terms. OceanaGold has outperformed our peers, which can be attributed to a number of factors, including the clarity provided by the Haile technical review, the successful return to full operation of Didipio, the strong first quarter results and the near-term organic growth outlook the company provided in February. And on that topic, we'll just turn to the next slide which provides an overview of our near-term growth potential together with projected capital expenditure and all-in sustaining costs per ounce. Looking ahead, if we successfully execute on our operational plans and organic growth projects, by 2024, we expect the gold production to be up by approximately 65% compared to 2021 and to 28% above the 2022 year. Importantly, we are also expecting a profile of reducing cash costs, reducing all-in sustaining costs and lower levels of capital expenditure. So depending on future metal prices, this represents the potential to progressively increase margins and generate even more free cash flow. On to the final slide. Shareholders can be confident that the company will continue to focus on safely and responsibly delivering long-term value to shareholders. The Board and management team at OceanaGold intends to drive accountability across it to ensure that the organization delivers on expectations in 2022 and realize its full value. Specifically, in 2022, we will work safely and responsibly. We will manage risks and execute on business plans in an operationally disciplined manner. We'll optimize production and reduce costs to maximize the generation of free cash flow and invest capital and use our exploration capability wisely to deliver profitable growth and attractive returns to shareholders. I thank everyone at OceanaGold for their hard work and commitment to delivering the results of 2021 and 2022 year-to-date. And to our shareholders, I thank you for your support, and I look forward to meeting as many of you as I can in the future and sharing in the continued success of the company. Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. I'll now turn the call over to the operator to -- for any questions and answering that you wish to conduct from this point on.

There are no questions at this time.

Okay. Thank you very much, everyone. Have an enjoyable day.

Thank you. This concludes the meeting. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.