Share Capital
During the three months ended June 30, 2021, the Company received cash proceeds of $1 million from the exercise of 31,745 share purchase options at a weighted average exercise price of Cdn$28.29 per option (six months - $6 million from the exercise of 289,745 share purchase options at a weighted average exercise price of Cdn$23.80). During the three months ended June 30, 2020, a total of 486,720 share purchase options were exercised at a weighted average exercise price of Cdn$26.25 per option, resulting in total cash proceeds to the Company in the amount of $9 million (six months - $16 million from the exercise of 860,955 share purchase options at a weighted average exercise price of Cdn$25.63).
During the three months ended June 30, 2021, the Company released 700 RSUs (six months - 116,880 RSUs). During the three months ended June 30, 2020, the Company released 3,495 RSUs (six months - 128,405 RSUs).
The Company has implemented a dividend reinvestment plan (“DRIP”) whereby shareholders can elect to have dividends reinvested directly into additional Wheaton common shares. During the six months ended June 30, 2021, there were 406,470 common shares issued under the DRIP, with all the shares being issued during the three months ended June 30, 2021. During the six months ended June 30, 2020, there were 185,453 common shares issued under the DRIP, with all the shares being issued during the three months ended June 30, 2020.
As of August 12, 2021, there were 450,271,489 outstanding common shares, 1,814,632 share purchase options, 350,058 restricted share units and 10,000,000 share purchase warrants.
At the Market Equity Program
The Company has established an at-the-market equity program (the “ATM Program”) that allows the Company to issue up to $300 million worth of common shares from treasury (“Common Shares”) to the public from time to time at the Company’s discretion and subject to regulatory requirements. Any Common Shares sold in the ATM Program will be sold (i) in ordinary brokers’ transactions on the NYSE or another US marketplace on which the Common Shares are listed, quoted or otherwise trade, (ii) in ordinary brokers’ transactions on the TSX, (iii) on another Canadian marketplace on which the Common Shares are listed, quoted or otherwise trade, or (iv) with respect to sales in the United States, at the prevailing market price, a price related to the prevailing market price or at negotiated prices. Since the Common Shares will be distributed at the prevailing market prices at the time of the sale or certain other prices, prices may vary among purchasers and during the period of distribution.
The ATM Program will be effective until the date that all Common Shares available for issue under the ATM Program have been issued or the ATM Program is terminated prior to such date by the Company or the agents under the equity offering sales agreement dated April 16, 2020.
Wheaton intends that the net proceeds from the ATM Program, if any, will be available as one potential source of funding for stream acquisitions and/or other general corporate purposes including the repayment of indebtedness. As at June 30, 2021, the Company has not issued any shares under the ATM program.
Financial Instruments
The Company owns equity interests in several companies as long-term investments (see page 9 of this MD&A) in addition to the Kutcho Convertible Note (see page 13 of this MD&A) and therefore is inherently exposed to various risk factors including currency risk, market price risk and liquidity risk.
In order to mitigate the effect of short-term volatility in gold, silver and palladium prices, the Company will occasionally enter into forward contracts in relation to gold, silver and palladium deliveries that it is highly confident will occur within a given quarter. The Company does not hedge its long-term exposure to commodity prices. Other than these very short-term forward contracts, the Company has not used derivative financial instruments to manage the risks associated with its operations and therefore, in the normal course of business, it is inherently exposed to currency, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations. No forward contracts were outstanding at June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020.
Future Changes to Accounting Policies
The International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”) has issued the following new or amended standards:
Amendment to IAS 16 - Property, Plant and Equipment
The amendments to IAS 16 prohibit deducting from the cost of property, plant and equipment the proceeds from selling items produced while bringing the assets to the location and condition necessary for them to be capable of operating in the manner intended by management. Instead, a company will recognize such sales proceeds and related cost in the Statement of Earnings. This amendment is in effect January 1, 2022 with early adoption permitted. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s Consolidated Statement of Earnings.
WHEATON PRECIOUS METALS 2021 SECOND QUARTER REPORT [33]