Atlas posts lower income in first 9 months

MANILA, Philippines—Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp. reported lower income in January to September on one-time items and weak copper prices.

The company, however, remains bullish on its full-year growth amid increased output and copper shipments.

For the first nine months of 2012, Atlas said its consolidated net income dropped by 23 percent to about P2 billion from nearly P2.64 billion a year ago, although core income registered a mere 0.05 percent decline to about P2 billion.

Income attributable to the parent company grew by 19 percent to P1.9 billion from P1.6 billion.

Atlas said its consolidated gross revenue grew by 13.7 percent to P11.36 billion from P9.99 billion, mainly because of Carmen Copper Corp.’s (CCC) improving performance.

Atlas unit Carmen Copper Corp. saw its net income drop 8 percent to P2.3 billion from P2.5 billion but the miner’s core income grew by 10 percent to P2.3 billion from P2 billion because of increased copper shipments.

“The slight decrease in CCC’s net income is merely an effect of mark-to-market adjustments related to the early settlement of its long-term loan obligation, and one-time charges incurred on the $300 million bond issue,” Atlas said.

CCC realized gross revenue of P10.51 billion for the three calendar quarters ending September 30, which is 9.1 percent higher year on year.

The growth in CCC’s earnings capacity, Atlas said, indicated resilience amid softer copper prices.

The average copper price for the first nine months of 2012 was $3.61 per pound. The average price in the comparative period last year was $4.14 per pound of copper.

Copper metal production grew by 27.33 percent to 66.77 million pounds from 52.44 million pounds.

However, the rate of increase of cash costs arising from expanded operations was held down at 2.4 percent.

With higher levels of output, CCC was able to complete 23 shipments from the start of the year until the end of September compared to just 18 during the first three quarters of 2011. As a result, CCC’s Ebitda [earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization] grew 21.2 percent while core income grew 10 percent.