Nickel Asia profit drops 58% amid falling prices
Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) reported an attributable net income of P1.52 billion in 2024, a 58-percent drop from P3.75 billion in the previous year due to less revenues and lower nickel ore prices.
The latest figure, which is net of minority interest, takes into account the P1.55-billion provision for the geothermal investment in Naujan town in Oriental Mindoro.
If such a provision were excluded, the attributable net income logs at P3.07 billion, which is still less than 2023 level.
The company funneled this investment through its subsidiary Mindoro Geothermal Power Corp., mainly for drilling exploration wells.
In a disclosure on Thursday, the company said revenues from ore sales decreased by 8.5 percent to P19.56 billion.
Still a gain
Despite this, NAC said this marked a “significant improvement” compared to the 16 percent year-on-year drop in the first half of 2024.
”The rebound in the second semester can be attributed to the Indonesian market purchasing one-third of the ore exports of NAC,” it said. “The continued demand from Indonesia presents a positive outlook for ore prices.”
During the period, the weighted average nickel ore prices fell by 14 percent to $20.04 per wet metric ton (WMT).
NAC’s operating mines sold 17.02 million WMT of nickel ore, a 3.5-percent increase in volume.
Of these, 9.64 million WMT of saprolite and limonite ore was exported at an average price of $27.34 per WMT.
Volume was more than the 8.92 million WMT shipped out the previous year, when prices were higher at $30.59 per WMT.
The remaining 7.38 million WMT of limonite ore was delivered to the Coral Bay and Taganito high-pressure acid leach or HPAL plants. Prices were linked to the London Metal Exchange, the global marketplace for trading industrial metals.
The company said such shipments realized an average price of $10.50 per WMT, down from $14.66 per WMT in 2023.
NAC incurred losses from its equity share in the two HPAL plants amounting to P897.93 million, down by 13 percent from P1.04 billion.
Meanwhile, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell by 19 percent to P8.79 billion.
“As we continue to grow, it is imperative for us to continuously enhance our processes and improve our operational efficiency,” NAC president and CEO Martin Antonio Zamora said.
