NICKEL Asia Corp. (NAC) on Tuesday reported that net income dropped to P202 million in the first quarter, down 79 percent from P970 million a year earlier, due to lower nickel ore prices amid an industry oversupply.
In a disclosure, the firm said that ore revenues had plunged to P2.09 billion during the period, down 41 percent from P3.55 billion last year.NAC President and Chief Executive Officer Martin Antonio Zamora said that they expect the nickel oversupply to eventually turn into a deficit, which could lead to resurgence in nickel prices."The long-term prospects for the nickel industry remain positive with the market's growing preference for nickel in the stainless steel and EV (electric vehicle) battery industries," Zamora said."Furthermore, we remain on track to achieve our twin goals of becoming a premiere ESG (environmental, social and governance) investment and a top 25 company in the Philippine Stock Exchange by 2025," he added.The company's operating mines, meanwhile, sold a combined 2.61 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore during the quarter, slightly higher than last year's 2.39 million WMT.NAC also faced a P193.90 million loss from investments in high-pressure acid leach plants, compared to a P252.12 million gain last year.On the renewable energy front, Zamora said the company's diversification into renewable energy was "proceeding according to plan."Emerging Power Inc.'s (EPI) subsidiary, Jobin SQM Inc., increased generation by 19.3 percent to 44,881 megawatt-hours, thereby expanding capacity to 172 MWp (megawatt peak)."With EPI 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.NAC said it was progressing with several solar and geothermal projects, and was aiming for significant capacity expansions in the coming years.The firm also remained optimistic about growth prospects for three new nickel projects — Dinapigue, Bulanjao and Manicani — that are expected to boost nickel ore sales volumes.Nickel Asia shares closed 2 centavos higher on Tuesday at P4.04. Read The Rest at :
