Carmen Copper to pay first cash dividend

MANILA, Philippines - Atlas Consolidated Mining Corp.’s wholly-owned unit Carmen Copper Corp. will pay its first-ever cash dividend to shareholders, amounting to a total P1 billion.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Atlas said  the dividend payout will come from Carmen Copper’s retained earnings as of Dec. 31, 2011.

 “This first dividend from Carmen Copper is a sign that the work and investments that we have put in to improve efficiencies and productivity are paying off,” Atlas executive vice-president Adrian Ramos said.

“We expect that performance for 2012 will be better than last year’s despite weaker copper prices. Our expansion program, which we expect to be completed in the second quarter of 2013, will support consistently robust results in the coming years.” 

Carmen Copper Corp., which operates the 1,675-hectare Toledo copper mine in Cebu, reported an eight percent decline in its nine-month profit to P2.3 billion as a result of mark-to-market adjustments related to the early settlement of its long-term obligations and one-time charges incurred on the $300 million bond issue.

Its core income, however, rose 10 percent to P2.3 billion due to increased copper shipments.  Gross revenues went up 9.1 percent to P10.51 billion.

Given higher production output, Carmen Copper effected 23 shipments in the first nine months of the year compared to just 18 during the first three quarters of 2011. As a result, the company’s  EBITDA [earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization]  expanded 21.2 percent.

Atlas, a partnership between the group of retail tycoon Henry Sy and the Ramos family, which owns the National Bookstore chain, recently completed a restructuring program that resulted in the full elimination of its accumulated deficit of P12.7 billion.

The Sy family, through its listed flagship holding firm SM Investments Corp., currently holds 28.43 percent of Atlas after buying P5.34 billion worth of convertible loans held by its banking unit Banco De Oro Unibank.

The Consunji family likewise owns a minority interest in Atlas with its recent purchase of a 5.3 percent stake for P16.50 each share or a total P1.58 billion.