Romualdez-led miner Benguet Corp. (BC) is looking at better earnings this year due to rising gold prices while planning to diversify its business after shedding off debt.

“As gold prices continued to soar, breaching the $3,000-per-ounce level this year, Benguet is positive that 2025 will surpass the 2024 operating results,” the mining firm said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

It added, “Looking forward, after having fully settled its long-outstanding debt, the management is poised to undertake diversification strategies and to continue to improve shareholders value.”

Benguet President Lina Fernandez said that “with improved creditworthiness and clean balance sheet, BC can resume capital market activities and engage investors in undertaking new projects and expansion of existing operations that will create new revenue streams for the company and will hopefully lead to future dividend payouts.”

She added, “As BC embarks on a new chapter, it will continue to deepen its foothold in the mining sector as well as build up its portfolio in new business ventures like agriculture, real estate, bulk water, and renewable energy.”

However, Benguet reported a 21.3-percent drop in net income to ₱436 million last year, from the ₱554 million earned in 2023, due to the effect of debt settlement.

The firm said its audited revenue also dipped to ₱2.4 billion in 2024, as compared to the previous year’s revenue of ₱2.5 billion.

Despite lower nickel sales in 2024, Benguet said it continued to show strong operating results, with its Acupan mine contributing significantly to its gold output. The 24-percent jump in gold prices year-on-year has offset the 16-percent slump in nickel prices.

The rationalization program initiated in Acupan last year was further instrumental in the positive performance of the gold operation. The appreciation of the US dollar against the peso likewise boosted the company’s performance in 2024.

In a separate disclosure, Benguet said its board of directors had approved the execution of an operating agreement (OA) with Asiga Mining Corp., which grants operating rights to Benguet over Asiga’s 3,483-hectare (ha) claim holdings located in the municipality of Santiago, Agusan del Norte, under Exploration Permit Application No. 000259-XIII.

The property is a gold and copper-molybdenum prospect. The OA becomes effective upon approval and ratification by their respective board of directors.

Last December 2024, Benguet announced its first cash dividend declaration in 35 years, as it was finally debt-free. It declared a cash dividend on its common stock of ₱0.20 per share and ₱0.28 for its convertible preferred stock, payable starting Dec. 10, 2024, with a record date of Nov. 14, 2024.

It is the first time, after 35 years, that Benguet will be paying dividends to its stockholders and the first management action after the company became debt-free following the resolution of all its outstanding debts.

The signing of the mutual rescission agreement, with regard to its restructured loans upon the approval of the board of directors, marked the end of a three-decade-long debt and mortgage indenture.

The deal was structured with its remaining creditors, Wilshire Business Consulting Corp. and Armstrong Capital Holdings Corp., which opted for direct settlement and leveraging for investment of their respective debts.

“The termination of the 1993 debt restructuring agreement and mortgage trust indenture is the culmination of management’s long and hard struggle to free the company from its outstanding debt liabilities that have for more than 30 years subjected it to hardship and constraint of operation,” said Fernandez.

Last year’s development on the debt issue has finally relieved the company from the negative restrictions of the restructured loans that have limited its ability to grow in the past and to deliver on its promise to bring value to shareholders.