Benguet nets P1.38B

Mining firm Benguet Corp. posted a net profit of P1.385 billion last year, as rising metal prices boosted core operations while one-time gains added to the bottomline, which has been positive for the second straight year.

Last year’s net profit, however, marked a decline from the P2.4 billion in net income posted in 2010, when the company booked extraordinary earnings of P2.3 billion from the settlement of liabilities and nonrefundable deposit from the Kingking transaction.

In a statement on Friday, the company reported that the ramped-up Acupan gold mining output and the continued ore shipment of its unit, BenguetCorp Nickel Mines Inc., provided steady and recurring income base last year while global metal prices remained high.

To date, the company has successfully retired 83 percent of its debt obligations and is continuously working on the full settlement of its liabilities this year.

For 2011, the company booked nonrecurring gains of P1.21 billion. At the same time, its income from operations surged by 208 percent to P262 million.

Revenue from gold increased by 50 percent year-on-year which the company expects to continue growing as milling capacity is increased to 300 metric tons per day by the fourth quarter of 2012. Doris C. Dumlao