S&P pumps up Iamgold

S&P said it raised its ratings for Iamgold Corp. and its unsecured notes to B- from CCC+ and CCC, respectively. The agency also improved the recovery rating on the notes to 3 from 5.

Iamgold finished construction of its Cote Gold project and recently attained the first gold production at the mine, with commercial production planned for the third quarter of 2024.

“We expect Iamgold will generate stronger cash flow and leverage measures, and transition to positive free operating cash flows (FOCF) in 2025. Under our base case, we expect the company will generate significantly higher earnings in 2024, supported by expected gold production from the new mine, with further upside in 2025 from the asset's first full year of contribution.

“As a result, we estimate Iamgold's adjusted debt to EBITDA (leverage) to significantly improve to the mid-3x area in 2024 (from 5.2x at the end of 2023), and strengthen to the low-3x area next year,” the agency said in a press release.

The outlook is stable.

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