…it ain’t you guys up there no more, Toronto.
Reading through the ABX 1q16 financials NR out this morning I was struck by its superior message, both to the ABX of the Munk era and to any of its Tier 1 rivals today. The decision to put a GS man in charge is paying off, ABX is now fluent in the language of Wall St and the fact it happens to be a gold miner with a product that’s been largely alien to the “Very serious Financial People” for so long is now secondary. The tone, the style, the delivery is the same as you get in quarterly reports from the people who bring you Barbie dolls, canned tuna, smartphones or household paper products. The 2016 ABX is a money-making business first, second and third. It just happens to be a gold mining company as well.
If I were a New York fund manager who has been toying with the idea of adding gold exposure to their portfolio, on reading this 1q16 NR I’d be on the phone asking my underlings just why we didn’t own ABX already. Today’s NR won’t go down so well in Toronto because they’re going to feel a little out of joint with the message, the traditional gold mining investment world isn’t the target of this news release. They’re becoming irrelevant.