Zamora-led mining firm Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC) reported a 30 percent drop in attributable net income to P2.55 billion in the first nine months of 2024 from the P3.65 billion earned during the same period last year due to lower ore prices.
In a disclosure to the Philppine Stock Exchange (PSE), the firm said its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to P6.64 billion against P8.83 billion in the prior year.
Revenues from ore sales declined by 12 percent year-on-year to P14.99 billion from P16.96 billion due to lower ore prices resulting from the oversupply in the nickel market.
Meanwhile, the company’s operating mines sold a combined 13.57 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore during the period, higher by 4.3 percent than last year’s 13.01 million WMT.
The weighted average nickel ore sales price during the period decreased by 18 percent to $19.09 per WMT against $23.24 per WMT in the same period last year.
The company realized P57.22 per US dollar on its nickel ore sales – a 2.8 percent increase from P55.64 last year.
Breaking down the ore sales, NAC exported 8.07 million WMT of saprolite and limonite ore at an average price of $24.74 per WMT during the period from 7.29 million WMT at $29.15 per WMT in the same period last year.
Likewise, it delivered 5.49 million WMT of limonite ore to the Coral Bay and Taganito high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) plants and realized an average price of $7.78 per pound of payable nickel equivalent to 8.99 percent of LME.
This compares to last year’s 5.72 million WMT at $10.53 per pound equivalent to 9.87 percent of LME.
NAC recognized losses from its combined equity share in investments in the two HPAL plants in the amount of P665.25 million against losses in the prior year at P379.23 million.
For the nine-month period, Emerging Power Inc.’s (EPI) subsidiary, Jobin-SQM Inc. (JSI), increased generation at its Mt. Sta. Rita solar plant in Subic Freeport by 58 percent to 167,730-megawatt hours; this was due to the energization of an additional 72-MWp in February, expanding the plant’s capacity to 172-MWp.
EBITDA margins remained positive at 85 percent. With the increased capacity, it was able to log a 68-percent increase in EBITDA to P742 million.
“This year, we achieved our objective of operating Manicani in Eastern Samar and Bulanjao in Palawan. We are optimistic that these new nickel mines will drive volume and revenue growth in the coming years. We also completed infrastructure enhancements in Dinapigue, Isabela, paving the way for higher production,” NAC President and CEO Martin Antonio G. Zamora said.
He added that “for EPI, our first solar project site, JSI, is now operating at a total capacity of 172-MWp since the energization of additional capacity last Feb. 28."
“By second quarter of next year, Greenlight Renewables Holdings, Inc., our joint venture with Shell Overseas Investments B.V., will complete construction of the first phase of its solar project in Leyte, with an initial capacity of 120-MWp,” he added.
“And by fourth quarter of 2025, the operations for first phase of CAWAG solar project in Subic, Zambales, with an initial capacity of 70- MWp.
“These developments are aligned with our objectives of increasing our nickel production and achieving a renewable energy capacity of 1 GW attributable to NAC by 2028,” Zamora said.