Atlas net income fell by half to ₱ 841 million

First 9 months

Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corporation net income fell to 841 million in the first nine months of 2014, about half of the 1.63 billion it earned in the same period last year.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Atlas said the lower profit is due to higher depreciation and financing charges, and higher income tax provision this year on account of the expiration of the income tax holiday incentive of operating subsidiary Carmen Copper Corporation in October, 2013.

However, Atlas Mining executive vice president Adrian Ramos said “we are confident that we have positioned the company for a solid performance in 2015 and the coming years with the completion and commissioning of Carmen Copper’s processing plant and the transition to the higher- gradeorebody.”

For the rest of the year, Ramos said they have decided to focus on addressing process flow efficiency enhancements and to perform key regular maintenance work in their thrust to achieve the optimal throughput needed to further increase earnings and bring down cash costs next year.

“While this will affect our net income guidance this year, Atlas Mining is well prepared for 2015 where we expect to realize the full benefits of the expansion projects,” he said.

Atlas reported a 15 percent hike in revenues to 12.6 billion during the first nine months of the year, driven mainly by the increase in revenues from copper, gold and nickel.

Revenues increased despite lower realized copper and gold prices as sales volume remained resilient with copper, gold and nickel output accelerating by 12 percent, 18 percent and 41 percent, respectively.

Carmen Copper sustained its production ramp-up after the commissioning of the expanded processing plant in March this year with a third quarter production of 27.9 million pounds of cop- per metal in concentrate.

This brings year-to-date production to 81.4 million pounds of copper metal in concentrate which translates into an 18 percent increase from the same period last year.

With improved production, total volume of copper shipments increased by 15 percent to 78.10 million pounds of copper metal in concentrate, while gold content was up by 25 percent.

However, the revenue impact of increased shipment volume was tempered by the lower realized prices of copper and gold. Copper prices were down 5 percent, hovering at an average of US$3.16 per pound, while gold dropped by 10 percent to US$1,290 per ounce.

Atlas Mining’s performance in the first three quarters got a boost from its nickel subsidiary Berong Nickel Corporation, which grew its net income sixteen-fold to 471 million.

BNC’s production volume spiked, growing almost double to 1.1 million wet metric tons, while shipments surged 74 percent resulting in a significant increase in revenues to 2.0 billion.