NICKEL Asia Corp. saw its attributable net income drop by 53 percent to P3.70 billion last year, from P7.9 billion in 2022, due to lower nickel ore prices resulting from increased production in Indonesia.
"Despite the challenges in the global nickel industry, we remain on track to achieve our ambition of becoming a premiere environmental, social and governance investment and a Top 25 company in the Philippine Stock Exchange by 2025," Nickel Asia President and Chief Executive Officer Martin Antonio Zamora said.Revenues from the sale of ore were also said to have dropped by 16 percent to P21.4 billion from P25.5 billion.Nickel Asia's operating mines sold a combined 16.5 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore in terms of volume, slightly up by 3 percent in 2022.The firm said it exported 8.9 million WMT of saprolite and limonite ore at an average price of $30.59 per WMT, up from 8.1 million WMT in exports at an average price of $39.39 per WMT during the previous year.Nickel Asia delivered 7.6 million WMT of limonite ore to the Coral Bay and Taganito plants at an average price of $14.66 per WMT. This was a big margin from 7.8 million WMT at an average price of $18.72 per WMT in 2022.As a result, the weighted average price of nickel ore sales decreased to $23.30 per WMT from $29.17 per WMT.The company also earned P55.78 per US dollar from nickel ore sales, a 2-percent increase from P54.90 year on year.Nickel Asia said it also registered a loss of P1 billion from its equity interests in the Coral Bay and Taganito plants, a big drop from P900 million."We are enthusiastic about three promising nickel projects, namely Dinapigue, Bulanjao and Manicani, which are scheduled to either ramp up or kick off this year. Together, they are poised to significantly bolster our nickel ore sales volumes in the coming years," Zamora said.As for its renewable energy business unit, Emerging Power Inc.'s subsidiary, Jobin-SQM Inc., increased electricity generation by 25 percent, following the rise in its capacity to 100-megawatt peak (MWp) from 62-MWp."Our diversification into renewable energy is proceeding according to plan. With Emerging Power Inc.'s solar capacity now at 172-MWp and almost 400-MWp in the immediate pipeline, our role as stewards of our country's natural resources takes on even greater significance," Zamora said.Nickel Asia's share price was unchanged at P4.32 each on Wednesday. Read The Rest at :
