Nickel Asia profit slumps on lower ore prices

FILE / NICKEL ASIA CORP.

Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC), the country’s largest nickel ore producer, saw its attributable net income decline by 36 percent in the first semester due to weaker ore prices.

In a disclosure to the local bourse, it said earnings dropped to P1.12 billion from the P1.175 billion booked in the same period last year.

READ: Nickel Asia earnings take a tumble

The company also reported P388.20 million in losses from its combined equity share in the two high-pressure acid leach plants.

Cash flow as measured by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization also plunged to P2.96 billion versus the previous P4.79 billion.

The group said revenues from ore sales decreased by 16 percent to P7.79 billion, which they attributed to “lower ore prices resulting from the nickel oversupply.”

According to NAC, the weighted average nickel ore sales price fell to $16.60 per wet metric ton (WMT), 26 percent down from the $22.32 per WMT recorded in the first half of last year.

From January to June, its operating mines sold 8.16 million WMT of nickel ore, up 8.5 percent from the previous 7.52 million WMT.

Although it exported 4.23 million WMT of saprolite and limonite ore in the first semester, higher than the previous 3.66 million WMT, the average selling price dropped to $21.95 per WMT.

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