Atlas profit slid in 2014 to P397M

MANILA, Philippines–Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. reported a continued contraction of its yearly net income, pegged at 79 percent in 2014 to settle at P397 million.

This was much faster than the 45-percent drop recorded in 2013 when net income was pegged  at P1.9 billion.

Also, this was despite a 12-percent jump in revenues which reached P16.2 billion in 2014, buoyed by higher output and shipment volumes.

Atlas Mining said in a statement that lower realized metal prices as well as higher costs, higher depreciation from new assets, financing and income tax charges tempered the effects of brisk production.

These factors came on the heels of subsidiary Carmen Copper’s income tax holiday expiring in October 2013.

The company said that revenues from copper represented 85 percent of total and rose 10 percent to P13.7 billion.

At the same time, shipments of concentrates swelled by 14 percent to 176,000 dry metric tons.

As for gold, revenues leaped 17 percent to P1.3 billion, with shipments revving up 23 percent to 24,071 ounces.

The company said these numbers reflected a 15-percent rise in copper metal content and a 23-percent increase in gold content.

Atlas Mining added that, in 2014, the average invoiced price of copper eased by 5 percent to $3.12 per pound. That for gold fell by 9 percent to $1,265 per ounce.

“(The past year) challenged Atlas Mining to manage the constraints on the optimization of its expanded processing plant and the effects of uncontrollable events such as the drop in world copper prices and unusual weather phenomena,” company executive vice president Adrian Ramos said.