Exports boost Marcventures Q3 sales, profit

Marcventures Holdings Inc. posted P381 million in revenue and a profit of P157 million in the third quarter of the year, as it started exporting nickel during the period.

This marked a turnaround from a net loss of P7.38 million in the third quarter of 2010, when the company reported zero sale.

Marcventures started exporting nickel ore shipments in late August 2011 after completing exploration and development works in its mining area.

“High margins have since yielded a quarter ending cash balance of P120 million,” the miner said.

The company said it made four shipments to China from its own causeway in Carrascal, Surigao del Sur, in August and September. The total volume of the four shipments was placed at 217,265 wet metric tons.

As of Sept. 30, 2011, Marcventures said its nickel ore stockpile was valued at P124.4 million.

The company holds a mineral production sharing agreement (No. 016-93-XI) over 4,799 hectares of mineralized property in Surigao del Sur.

To date, only 120 hectares, or 2.5 percent of the total area have been explored, Marcventures said in its third-quarter report to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Before the third quarter, Marcventures Mining and Development Corp., a 100-percent owned subsidiary of Marcventures Holdings Inc., was still in the exploration stage without any income-generating activity.

Marcventures is projected to post a net income of P384 million this year and P968 million in 2012, according to the November 2011 research report of Abacus Securities Research.

Abacus is a Philippine stock brokerage firm that also conducts in-depth industrial company research and analyses.

Philippine nickel miners, including Marcventures, are benefiting from the growing global nickel demand as Nickel Pig Iron (NPI), a Chinese invention, has gained wide acceptability as a substitute for primary nickel as a raw material for stainless steel manufacturing.