Atlas Mining Q1 income slides on copper prices

Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. reported a 79-percent year-on-year drop in its net income for the first quarter, settling at P118 million.

The company said in a statement this was due to lower prices of copper and the expiration of its subsidiary Carmen Copper Corp.’s income tax holiday incentive granted by the government.

Aside from that, Atlas Mining also cited unrealized foreign exchange loss of P159 million on its dollar-denominated debt.

“While the financial results for the first quarter reflects a challenging start to 2014, the operational results show that we are on track on increasing production as we see [an] upswing in throughput and recovery rate,” company executive vice president Adrian Ramos said in a statement.

Ramos was referring to the expected outcome following the completed commissioning of Carmen Copper’s expand ore processing plant.

He added that Atlas Mining expects improved production costs as per pound cost of copper nears the company’s target range.

During the first quarter, the company posted an average cash cost of $1.94 per pound of copper, which was only 6 percent more than the previous $1.84. In March alone, the figure was pegged at $1.58 per pound.

Atlas Mining said its revenues jumped 11 percent to P3.64 billion despite lower metal prices, thanks to a bigger volume sold.