Improving gold prices boost Apex net income

APEX Mining Co. said the Brexit vote had helped push its first-semester consolidated net income up by 60 percent year-on-year to P133 million from P81.7 million in the same period of 2015.

At the same time, revenue revved up 42 percent to P1.7 billion due to continued rise in production of gold and silver despite lower ore grades.

The company racked up 26,577 ounces gold and 140,317 ounces silver, both showing an increase of 31 percent in volume.

Apex attributed the higher net earnings mainly to the new production record that the Maco mine achieved during the period.

The Maco mine in Compostela Valley saw throughput rise 34 percent to 203,476 tons of ore. Daily milling volume averaged 1,400 tons or 27 percent higher.

Apex said that as metal prices started to recover toward the second quarter, gold prices in the first half averaged $1,247 per ounce or 3 percent higher year-on-year.

“The higher volume outputs and gold price combined to generate the highest average level thus far in the company’s history,” it added.

Also, Apex said the depreciation of the peso against the dollar contributed to the rise in revenue.

“The general weakening of the US dollar against gold and the British vote to exit the European Union provided the impetus for the gold price to move favorably for the gold producers,” company president and chief executive Walter W. Brown said in a statement.

“While we have seen gold price rise to $1,375 per ounce as its highest level in the past months or so, it still has yet to break the $1,400 resistance level,” Brown said. “We would be pleased if the metal price would move up, nevertheless at this level, we expect the company’s earnings for the year to be significantly higher than the income reported for the whole of last year.”