Global Ferronickel Holdings’ net income down 19.6%

GLOBAL Ferronickel Holdings, Inc. (FNI) registered an attributable net income of P1.5 billion for 2023, down 19.6%, the listed nickel ore producer said on Monday.

“Without the one-off impact in 2022, net income attributable to shareholders grew 3.9% and EPS (earnings per share) rose 5.8%,” FNI said in a statement.

The company’s consolidated net income declined by 15.9% to P1.8 billion in 2023 “due to the high base from last year that included a one-off gain.”

FNI’s revenues grew by 30.5% to P8.8 billion, driven by higher volume from full-year operations and medium-grade ores from the Palawan mine, which started commercial shipments in September 2022 and became a subsidiary in December 2022.

The strong performance from the Palawan mine offset the lower volumes at the Surigao mine, which FNI attributed to the weather, as well as weaker prices for low-grade ores amid expanded output from mines in Indonesia.

“Our revenues highlight our success in operating the Palawan mine reliably in its first full year of production. This diversification helps improve our cash flows and better positions us to take advantage of opportunities for short- and long-term growth,” FNI President Dante R. Bravo said.

During the period, the total sold volume reached 4.72 million wet metric tons (WMT), of which 3.3 million WMT were from Surigao and 1.42 million WMT were from Palawan.

FNI said that its sales mix went down to 64% for low-grade and 32% for medium-grade versus the 76% low-grade and 24% medium-grade in 2022.

“The average realized nickel ore price was US$33.28/WMT, rising 5.1% on a favorable mix combined with stronger prices for medium-grade ores, which were 11.6% higher than last year,” the company said.

The company’s cost of sales went up by 52.5% to P3.6 billion, driven by the “greater” contract hire and personnel costs following the increase in sales volume from the opening of the Palawan mine.

On Monday, shares of the company went up by P0.02 or 1.14% to close at P1.77 each. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera