Author：Wall Street CN

The sustained high price of gold is rapidly translating into performance benefits for listed gold companies.

Western Gold issued a preliminary earnings announcement for the first quarter of 2026 on Tuesday, expecting net profit attributable to owners of the parent company to be between RMB 450 million and RMB 560 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 1,161% to 1,470% compared to the statutory disclosure data for the same period last year.

This better-than-expected growth directly benefited from the simultaneous increase in sales volume and price of gold products, as well as the rebound in electrolytic manganese prices.

The company also disclosed that its net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses is expected to be between RMB 440 million and RMB 570 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 950% to 1261%, indicating that the performance growth mainly comes from substantial improvements in its main business, rather than being driven by one-off factors.

Production, sales volume, and price are the two driving forces.

In its announcement, Western Gold clarified that the core driver of the significant increase in net profit this quarter came from its main business: sales volume of gold products increased compared to the same period last year, sales prices rose compared to the same period last year, and sales prices of electrolytic manganese also increased compared to the same period last year.

Comparing the base period data, it can be seen that the company's net profit attributable to owners of the parent company (statutory disclosure data) in the first quarter of 2025 was only RMB 35.6753 million, and the net profit excluding non-recurring items was RMB 41.8959 million. Calculated based on the median of this forecast, the net profit for this quarter is approximately 14 times that of the same period last year.

Mergers and acquisitions expand the scope of consolidated financial statements

The significant leap in performance also involves the accounting treatment of a merger and acquisition. In August 2025, the company completed the relevant procedures for acquiring 100% equity of Xinjiang Meisheng Mining Co., Ltd. from its controlling shareholder and included the target in the scope of the consolidated financial statements.

In accordance with the provisions of the Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises regarding business combinations under common control, the company has retrospectively adjusted the data for the same period of the previous year.

After retrospective adjustment, the net profit for the same period last year was revised down from RMB 35.6753 million to RMB 23.7197 million, further expanding the year-on-year growth rate for this period – based on the retrospectively adjusted data, the net profit for this quarter increased by 1797% to 2261% year-on-year.