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Bigger ore shipment, better prices boost Nickel Asia's Jan-Sept earnings

By: InterAksyon.com
November 11, 2014 7:22 AM





InterAksyon.com means BUSINESS
MANILA - Higher ore sales fueled a more than four-fold increase in Nickel Asia Corp's net income in the first nine months of the year.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Nickel Asia said it earned P10.702 billion in the January to September period, up 379 percent from P2.232 billion in the same nine months of last year.
The year-to-date profit includes a non-cash gain of P416.6 million resulting from the revaluation of unit Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corp of its investment in Coral Bay Nickel Corp. Excluding this and other onetime gains, core earnings reached P7.76 billion.
“We are delighted with our strong results for the first nine months of this year and our ability to build on the combination of higher prices and increased production to meet higher demand for our ore”, said Nickel Asia president Gerard H. Brimo.
Revenue surged 158 percent to P21.146 billion this year from P8.197 billion last year, as the company shipped more ore at better prices.
Nickel Asia shipped 14.26 million wet metric tons (WMT) at end-September from its four operating mines, more than a third higher than the 10.32 million in the same period last year.
The company ascribed the increase to higher ore deliveries to Taganito HPAL Nickel Corp (THPAL), the joint venture processing plant of Nickel Asia and Japan's Sumitomo Corp. Commissioned last year, the plant is now on its first full year of operations.
The biggest shipment however was sent to China, with Japan buying the smallest volume of ore mined (see chart below).

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Source of data: Nickel Asia Corp​

Shipments to the Taganito and Coral bay plants were priced according to the London Metals Exchange and averaged $7.87 a pound of payable nickel. Shipments to China and Japan were based on a negotiated price of $46.72 a WMT, higher than last year's average of $20.96.
The higher negotiated price stemmed from strong demand brought about by Indonesia's ore export ban.
On November 10, Nickel Asia's board approved a special cash dividend of P0.50 a share, and a stock dividend at a rate of 50 percent. The stock dividend, which would reached 1.264 billion common shares, will be taken out of the company's unissued stock.

http://www.interaksyon.com/business...r-prices-boost-nickel-asias-jan-sept-earnings