NICKEL ASIA Corp. (NAC) reported a 148% increase in its first-quarter (Q1) net income to P501.03 million, driven by stronger ore prices and a one-time gain from the sale of its stake in Coral Bay Nickel Corp. (CBNC).
In a disclosure on Thursday, NAC said the earnings boost included an P800-million gain from the sale of its 15.625% equity interest in CBNC to Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. (SMM) in February. SMM previously held the remaining 84.375% stake in the Palawan-based hydrometallurgical processing plant.
Revenues from saprolite and limonite ore sales rose by 16% to P2.36 billion from P2.03 billion in the same period last year, lifted by higher prices.
The company’s weighted average sales price for nickel ore increased by 18% to $16.40 per wet metric ton (WMT) from $13.84 per WMT a year earlier. It also realized an average foreign exchange rate of P57.85 per US dollar, up from P56.13 last year.
Average export prices for saprolite ore, totaling 0.66 million WMT, surged by 43% year on year to $36.60 per WMT from $25.57 per WMT.
“Moreover, the company delivered 1.82 million WMT of limonite ore to the CBNC and Taganito HPAL plants, the price of which is linked to the London Metal Exchange,” NAC said.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) fell to P969.63 million from P1.05 billion.
NAC also said that ore deliveries from the Taganito mine were affected by plant maintenance at the Taganito HPAL Nickel Corp.(THPAL) facility in March. THPAL is a CBNC subsidiary that processes limonite ore into mixed nickel-cobalt sulfide.
The company recognized P91.91 million in losses from its equity share in the THPAL project, narrowing the loss by 53% from P193.9 million in the same period last year following the divestment from CBNC.
EQUITY INFUSIONNAC has also approved a P2.53-billion equity infusion into its renewable energy subsidiary Emerging Power, Inc. (EPI), the company said in a separate disclosure on Thursday.
The investment, approved during the board meeting held on May 8, consists of a subscription to 1,333,684,211 EPI common shares at P1.90 per share. The transaction will be executed upon approval of the increase in EPI’s authorized capital stock.
The latest move follows NAC’s disclosure on Feb. 27 regarding its plan to inject additional capital into EPI, which develops and operates renewable energy projects.
NAC has been diversifying into clean energy as part of its long-term strategy to reduce dependence on mining revenues. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
