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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider The Stock Market devider Nickel Asia diversifies into geothermal, overseas investments

Nickel Asia diversifies into geothermal, overseas investments

Published Mar 2, 2026 12:00 am  |  Updated Feb 28, 2026 12:27 pm

With its earnings surging from high metal prices, natural resources development company Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) is now diversifying its renewable energy (RE) portfolio into geothermal power while also looking for investment opportunities overseas.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) last week, the firm said it is setting up three wholly owned subsidiaries for support services as well as for its new investments.

The first subsidiary will be a shared services entity for corporate support services for the company and its subsidiaries or affiliates, while it will also set up a geothermal holding entity for NAC’s investments in geothermal energy projects. The third subsidiary will be an offshore entity for the company’s international investments.

This comes as NAC reported that its attributable net income quadrupled, surging by 312 percent to ₱6.27 billion last year from ₱1.52 billion in 2024.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 56 percent to ₱13.75 billion from ₱8.79 billion in 2024.

“Our significant income growth last year reflects our ability to capitalize on market highs while strengthening our position as a reliable global supplier,” said Nickel Asia President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Martin Antonio G. Zamora.

He added that, “We are now accelerating our transition into a multi-resource company, fueled by the continuous scaling of our RE arm and new prospects in gold and copper. This strategic diversification ensures long-term value for our stakeholders and reinforces our commitment as a reliable partner in nation-building.”

NAC’s positive financial performance saw a solid uplift on the back of higher saprolite ore export prices throughout last year.

Revenues from saprolite and limonite ore increased by 39 percent to ₱27.25 billion from ₱19.56 billion as operating mines sold a combined 18.56 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore, a nine-percent increase from 17.02 million WMT in 2024.

The weighted average ore price grew by 28 percent year-on-year to $25.66 per WMT from $20.04 per WMT. Operating mines realized an average exchange rate of ₱57.22 per United States (US) dollar from sales, a slight decline from ₱57.36 per dollar in 2024.

Saprolite and limonite ore exports totaled 10.93 million WMT at an average price of $36.14 per WMT in 2025 versus 9.64 million WMT at $27.34 per WMT in 2024. This represents a year-on-year rise of 13 percent in ore exports and a 32-percent improvement in export prices.

Deliveries of limonite ore to Coral Bay and Taganito HPAL plants reached 7.64 million WMT, with an average realized price of $6.86 per pound of payable nickel, equivalent to $10.66 per WMT at 9.87-percent average nickel payability.

NAC’s RE arm, Emerging Power Inc. (EPI), through its subsidiary Jobin SQM Inc. (JSI), is currently operating at a capacity of 172 megawatts (MW). In 2025, generation increased marginally by one percent year-on-year to 226,897 megawatt-hours (MWh).

EBITDA declined by 16 percent to ₱788 million from ₱939 million, reflecting lower weighted average tariffs driven by a drop in Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) prices during the year.

Notwithstanding this market environment, EPI continued to advance its development pipeline.

Meanwhile, Cordillera Exploration Co. Inc. (CEXCI), NAC’s joint venture (JV) with Sumitomo Mining Co. Ltd., continues to receive significant copper-gold mineralization assay results from its drilling program for Cordon project in Isabela province.

For this year, the 2026 drilling campaign will test an area measuring 800 x 500 meters to further evaluate the extent of the copper-gold system in Barangay San Luis, Cauayan City.

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Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) Martin Antonio G. Zamora
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