Nickel Asia reverses Q1 losses

Nickel Asia Corp. saw a turnaround in its operations in the first quarter of 2017, posting a P377.5 million income coming from a net loss of P300.8 million in the same period of 2016.

“We are very pleased with our first quarter results despite the business challenges and tough market conditions we continue to face,” Nickel Asia president and chief executive Gerard Brimo said.

“We will definitely build on this momentum as we now approach our peak shipment season, which starts in the second quarter of the year,” Brimo said.

The company said in a statement that the income posted during the period in review was partly due to higher value shipments from Rio Tuba and Taganito mines as well as higher metal prices.

“The combined effects of shipments of higher-value saprolite ore from its Rio Tuba and Taganito mines this quarter coupled with higher prices, a stronger US dollar and much lower losses from the company’s equity share in its investment in both the Coral Bay and Taganito processing plants, resulted to a significant turnaround in earnings during the first quarter,” Nickel Asia said.

For the two processing plants in which Nickel Asia has a stake, losses were pared down to P10 million compared to P226 million in the same period of 2016.

Nickel Asia said the improved performance was mainly driven by lower operating costs coupled with higher prices for cobalt, a byproduct of both plants.

During the March quarter, Rio Tuba and Taganito mines sold a combined 3.05 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore, down 13 percent from 3.49 million WMT previously.

Rio Tuba alone sold 908,000 WMT of saprolite ore and 950,000 WMT of limonite ore to the Coral Bay processing plant. Respectively, the numbers meant a jump of 53 percent and a fall of 31 percent.

Taganito alone sold 156,000 WMT of saprolite ore and 1.04 million WMT of limonite, representing an increase of 3 percent and a decrease of 25 percent.