GLOBAL Ferronickel Holdings, Inc. on Thursday reported that its attributable net income dropped by 19.7% to P1.5 billion from P1.9 billion the prior year, despite higher revenues.
“We are focused on strengthening the business and improving asset diversification,” said Dante R. Bravo, its president, in a stock exchange disclosure.
Mr. Bravo added that the company had recently purchased five landing craft tanks aimed to enable “meaningful operational and cost efficiencies in transporting nickel ores beginning 2024.”
Additionally, Global Ferronickel also increased the size of its land holdings by acquiring property along the Freeport Area of Bataan.
Its consolidated net income declined by 14.4% to P1.8 billion, which includes its P310.3 million share in the net income of its China-based associates.
Last year, the company acquired a 20% stake in Guangdong Century Tsingshan Nickel Industry Co., Ltd. (GCTN) for $75 million.
GCTN is a Chinese nickel alloy firm that operates smelters with rotary kiln-electric furnace technology. It produces about 28,000 tons of pure nickel annually.
The company said that revenues rose by 33.1% to P6.8 billion due to an increased volume of high-grade nickel ores extracted from its Palawan mine. This was partly offset by lower volumes at the Surigao mine that resulted from wet weather and a lower price for low-grade ores.
It added that the total volume sold for the period rose by 20.7% to 3.8 million wet metric tons (WMT) of ore.
The company’s Surigao operations reported 2.71 million WMT, while its Palawan operations posted 1.09 million WMT.
Global Ferronickel said that its sales mix had improved to 68% for low-grade ore and 32% for medium-grade ore versus the 78% low-grade and 22% medium-grade last year.
“The average realized nickel ore price was $31.93 per WMT, reflecting a 10.5% improvement driven by the more favorable mix and the stronger prices of higher-grade ores, which were 16.9% more than last year,” it said.
Additionally, the company’s cost of sales rose by 37.8% to P2.8 billion, driven by increased contract hires, depreciation and depletion, and personnel costs from the opening of its Palawan mine.
Global Ferronickel is a holding company with principal business interests in mineral resource exploration, mining, and exporting of nickel ore. Its subsidiaries include Platinum Group Metals Corp., Steel Corp., FNI Steel Landholdings Corp., and Mariveles Harbor Corp.
On Thursday, its shares dropped by 1.63% or four centavos to close at P2.41 apiece at the stock exchange. — Adrian H. Halili