Philex profit jumps 62% to P5B in 2007

Philex Mining Corp. , the country’s biggest miner of gold and copper by market value, reported a 62 percent jump in net income last year to P5 billion from only P3.087 billion in 2006, mainly due to  higher metal prices and volumes sold.

The company’s net profit translates to earnings per share of P1.697 compared with P1.044 a year earlier.

Operating revenues also grew 22.5 percent to  P12.2 billion from P9.96 billion in 2006.

Philex delivered a total of P906 million worth of metals last month, consisting of 1.67 kilos of copper; 356,148 grams of gold and 333,198 grams of silver.

Philex earlier acquired 46 percent of Canadian-based FEC Resources Inc. for $5 million through a private placement.  The move is part of the group’s strategy of increasing its portfolio in petroenergy.

FEC holds a diverse portfolio of oil and gas properties in the Philippines through its shareholdings in Forum Energy Plc.   FEC is also Philex’s joint venture partner in Philex Gold Phils.

The purchase follows Philex’s purchase of a 4.4-percent stake in Pitkin Petroleum Ltd., a Texas-based junior exploration company, for $2 million.

Pitkin is producing on a small-scale basis in Louisiana but also has properties in offshore Vietnam and Peru.

The drilling in Vietnam is scheduled to commence in 2009 where Pitkin is 40 percent carried for two wells costing at about $53 million, with a partner from the United Kingdom with a $2-billion market capitalization.

Philex currently has interests in three other petroleum projects in Northwest Palawan and South Sulu Sea areas. Brixton Energy and Mining Corp., which is Philex’s wholly-owned subsidiary, is also doing pre-development activities in a coal property in Southern Zamboanga.

Philex earlier said it plans to acquire additional mining properties to sustain production.