Vancouver's Silver Wheaton Corp. (TSX, NYSE:SLW) has reported record annual net profits for the year ending December 31, 2007.
They rose 7.9% to $91.9 million from the sale of 13.1 million ounces of silver compared with net earnings of $85.2 from the sale of 13.5 million ounces of silver in 2006.
A key contributor to the company's stronger annual performance was a 14.5% increase in average per-ounce silver prices to $13.42 from $11.72 in 2006.
Despite a 400,000-ounce decline in sales, Silver Wheaton's revenue rose 10.7% to $175.4 million compared with $158.5 million in 2006.
The company expects strong growth in production and sales in 2008 due to two accretive acquisitions it made in 2007: 25% of the silver produced from Goldcorp's Penasquito project in Mexico and between 45% and 90% of the silver produced by Augusta Resource Corp.'s Rosemond copper project in Arizona.
Silver Wheaton's share price range during the past week: between $15.85 and $16.33; 52-week high: $19; 52-week low: $10.41.