Atlas posts 4% hike in H1 profit

MANILA, Philippines — Listed Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. reported a single digit hike in its first half net income due to better grades and metal prices.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, Atlas said its net income reached P2 billion from January to June this year, up four percent from P1.935 billion in the same period last year.

The company attributed earnings growth to the considerable increase in grades and metal prices during the period.

Carmen Copper Corp., a wholly owned unit of Atlas, registered a six percent decline in copper metal production from 38.73 million pounds to 36.58 million pounds.

This is due to lower tonnage milled, which also decreased by six percent from 9.26 million tons to 8.66 million tons.

However, copper grade inched up one percent from 0.231 percent to 0.234 percent while gold grade improved by six percent from 5.09 grams per dry metric ton (DMT) to 5.41 grams per DMT.

In terms of shipments, copper metal content of concentrate shipped slipped by two percent from 39.67 million pounds to 38.8 million pounds but gold content increased by six percent to from 10,579 ounces to 11,212 ounces due to higher gold grade.

Number of shipments was comparatively the same from a year ago, but the higher prices in the first semester pushed revenues to grow by eight percent from P9.01 billion to P9.74 billion.

Atlas said metal prices continued to increase in the first half as copper price rose by six percent from $4.21 per pound to $4.45 per pound, while gold price increased by four percent from $1,812 per ounce to $1,879 per ounce.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) settled at P3.89 billion, down 21 percent from P4.93 billion last year due to higher energy costs particularly power and fuel.

This also pulled down core income by 57 percent from P2.16 billion to P930 million.

Meanwhile, cash generated from operations improved, enabling the company to make an additional loan payment of $60 million during the period. With the partial repayment of loan, Atlas recognized an accounting gain of P938 million in the second quarter.