Nickel Asia Corp., a listed mining firm, reported a sharp drop in first-quarter net income to P202 million from P970 million in the year-earlier period on account of a drop in nickel prices and continuing loss on its investments in two high-pressure acid leach plants.
Revenue from sale of nickel ore was down 41 percent to P2.09 billion as ore prices fell due to an oversupply, blunting the impact of an increase in shipments to 2.61 million wet metric tons from 2.39 million wet metric tons.
The weighted average price of nickel in the first quarter plunged 48 percent to USD13.84 per wet metric ton. The 2 percent appreciation of the US dollar to P56.13 hardly changed the impact of lower nickel prices on Nickel Asia’s earnings.
Nickel Asia said its share in the losses of the Coral Bay and Taganito HPAL narrowed to P193.9 million from P252.1 million in the year-earlier period.
Meantime, investments in renewable energy under Emerging Power Inc. continue to show promise for Nickel Asia.
The listed mining company said EPI reported a 4 percent increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of P160 million.
Nickel Asia remains optimistic in the long-term prospects of the nickel industry despite the current oversupply. The company expects an upturn in nickel prices aas demand for electric vehicles rise since nickel is a component of batteries for EVs.
