DMCI Mining Corporation reported a 17 percent decrease in net income to P1.17 billion during the first nine months of 2022 from the P1.41 billion earned in the same period last year.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said the decline in profit is due to lower nickel ore shipments and average nickel grade sold.

“We expected a severe profit decline because of the depletion of our Berong mine late last year. Fortunately, the bullish nickel market allowed us to ship even the low-grade inventory of Berong,” said DMCI Mining President Tulsi Das C. Reyes.

He added that, “Strong nickel prices and local currency weakness also moderated the impact of lower shipments on our bottom line.”

For the third quarter alone, net income dropped 56 percent to P80 million from P181 million due to the combined effect of lower shipment (50 percent lower), flattish nickel grade sold (down 1 percent), higher selling prices (up by 31 percent) and favorable average foreign exchange rates (10 percent higher).

Total shipments declined at a slower pace from January to September as the Berong mine did better than expected in the first half.

Consequently, nickel ore shipments only fell by 25 percent from 1.45 million wet metric tons (WMT) to 1.09 million WMT.

Despite a 4 percent decrease in average nickel grade sold from 1.38 percent to 1.33 percent, DMCI Mining posted a 16 percent improvement in nine-month average selling price from $43 to $50.

Magnifying the impact of higher selling prices was a 10 percent increase in foreign exchange rates from P49 to P53 to the dollar.

At the end of September, total inventory fell 76 percent from 450,000 WMT to 109,000 WMT, mostly (81 percent) coming from Zambales.