Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest gold producer, reported third-quarter results that beat most analysts’ estimates because of efforts to contain costs.

Profit excluding a $5.7 billion charge to eliminate fixed- price contracts and a one-time impairment expense was 54 cents a share, Toronto-based Barrick said today in a statement. That topped the 46-cent average estimate of 23 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Chief Executive Officer Aaron Regent is eliminating bets against gold’s value and increasing reserves to benefit from gold prices that surged to a record $1,072 an ounce in New York this month. The company has mines under construction or recently completed in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa.

“They’re keeping the cash costs low,” said Barry Schwartz, a portfolio manager with Baskin Financial Services Inc. in Toronto, who helps manage C$315 million ($293 million) and has 130,000 Barrick shares. “The story of Barrick is a company that has increasing gold production in the next few years and has good control over its cash costs.”

Third-quarter sales rose 12 percent to $2.1 billion, in line with the average estimate in the Bloomberg survey. The average price of gold sales rose 11 percent from a year earlier to $971 an ounce, the company said.

Barrick produced 1.9 million ounces of gold in the period, compared with 1.95 million ounces a year earlier. Production costs were $456 an ounce, which the company said was on plan. Those costs compare with $452 in the prior period and $466 a year earlier.

‘Cost Targets’

The company is positioned “to meet our production and cost targets for the year,” Regent said in the statement.

Barrick rose 92 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $35.50 at 9 a.m. before the regular open of New York Stock Exchange trading. The shares declined 6 percent this year before today.

Including the one-time items, Barrick reported a third- quarter net loss of $5.35 billion, or $6.07 a share. That compares with net income of $254 million, or 29 cents, a year earlier. The charges in the 2009 quarter included a $155 million expense taken because the company decided not to exercise its right to increase its stake in the Sedibelo platinum project in South Africa.

Gold futures in New York climbed 17 percent to $1,030.50 an ounce this year through yesterday, while the 16-company Philadelphia Stock Exchange Gold & Silver Index rose 25 percent. The precious metal, which reached a record $1,072 on Oct. 14, has risen for eight straight calendar years.

Production Forecast

Barrick repeated its forecast for 2009 gold production of 7.2 million to 7.6 million ounces at total cash costs of $450 to $475 an ounce. The company expects gold output to rise to 7.7 million to 8.1 million ounces next year, helped by the scheduled start of new production at the Cortez Hills project in Nevada next year. Barrick produced 7.66 million ounces of gold last year at average total costs of $443 an ounce.

On Oct. 12, Barrick agreed to pay Xstrata Plc $465 million for a 70 percent stake in the El Morro copper and gold mining project in Chile.

Barrick started building its $3 billion Pascua-Lama mine project on the Chile-Argentina border after the two countries resolved a tax dispute. The mine is forecast to yield as much as 800,000 ounces of gold annually after it starts operations in 2012.

The gold miner began production at its Buzwagi mine in Tanzania in May. The Pueblo Viejo project in the Dominican Republic is scheduled to start production in the fourth quarter of 2011.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Delaney in Toronto at robdelaney@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 29, 2009 09:06 EDT