Earnings of Philex more than double27 Feb 2015 22:00
Posted on February 26, 2015 09:19:00 PM
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Corporate&title=earnings-of-philex-more-than-double&id=103439
By Krista A. M. Montealegre, Senior Reporter
Earnings of Philex more than double
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PHILEX Mining Corp. more than doubled earnings in 2014, as the Padcal gold and copper mine in Benguet posted its first full year of operation following a suspension in 2013.
Philex Mining told the stock exchange its net income increased 125% to P702.85 million from P312.40 million in 2013. On a core basis, which strips out nonrecurring items, profit last year was up 4% to P1.12 billion from P1.08 billion.
Revenue rose 4% to P10.90 billion from P10.46 billion in 2013.
The company cited the uptick in earnings as a result of higher number of operating days and cost-streamlining initiatives despite lower ore grades and weak metal prices.
Philex’s Padcal mine operated for a full year in 2014 compared with only 10 months in 2013. Operations at the Padcal mine were suspended in 2012 after wastewater overflowed, prompting the company to return to full operations in June last year after the contaminated area was cleaned up and fines were paid.
The higher operating days resulted in a 23% increase in tonnage, but lower metal grades resulted in in moderate improvements in metal output.
Gold output climbed 5% from a year earlier to 105,008 ounces, pushing revenue by 6% to P5.89 billion. The higher output offset a 2% drop in realized gold price to $1,270 per ounce from $1,297 a year ago.
Copper production increased 9% to 35,391,154 pounds and accounted for P4.62 billion in revenues despite a 9% drop in realized prices for copper at $2.98 per pound from $3.27 per pound in 2013.
Revenue from silver, coal, petroleum, and others -- which accounted for the remaining 3.6% of total revenues -- rose 31% to P394 million from P300 million in 2013.
Philex Mining, through upstream oil and gas unit Philex Petroleum Corp., owns 60.49% of UK-based Forum Energy, Inc, which has a 2.27% participating interest in the oil block off Palawan. The Galoc field is the country’s lone oil producer of commercial scale.
Philex Mining is one of three key Philippine subsidiaries of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT). Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld.
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