Miner Atlas Consolidated reports 135% rise in Q1 net earnings

Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp. reported a 139 percent jump in its first quarter net earnings to P238 million, mainly due to lower expenses. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Atlas Consolidated said core income surged 92 percent to P504 million while earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortization grew 28 percent to P1.29 billion. Total operating and financing costs, on the other hand, declined by 11 percent to P2.79 billion. “The effect of prudent cost management has more than offset the slight decrease in realized copper prices in 2013,” Atlas said. Wholly-owned unit Carmen Copper Corp. sustained the same shipment volume of 19.9 million pounds of copper concentrate in the first quarters of 2012 and 2013. Consolidated revenues slightly decreased to P3.29 billion from P3.4 billion as a result of lower copper prices during the period.   Production of copper metal concentrate was slightly lower at 20.8 million pounds compared to 21.7 million pounds largely due to mandatory maintenance work in one of the mills at Carmen Copper. “The first quarter results are showing us that we are on the right track in terms of managing our costs.  This allowed our operations to remain resilient and competitive amidst any future copper price scenario,” said Adrian Ramos, director and executive vice-president. Atlas is embarking on an expansion program aimed at increasing its copper concentrate production to 60,000 tons per day from 40,000 tons. The project is expected to be completed within the second half of the year or a year ahead of the original schedule. “The completion of the expansion project at Carmen Copper will be a new growth platform that will strengthen our capacity to achieve new production records and profitability targets in 2013. “Looking ahead, we have confidence in the continuing demand for copper in the world’s growth economies and we will pursue long-term opportunities that will drive our businesses forward and deliver value to our shareholders,” Ramos said. — VS, GMA News