Philex earnings jump 76% in 9 months

MANILA, Philippines - Pangilinan-led Philex Mining Corp. reported a 76-percent surge in its nine month income to P1.3 billion, largely driven by improved tonnage and metal prices in the world market.

In a disclosure to the local bourse, Philex said revenues from January to September rose seven percent to P7.7 billion.

Revenue from gold alone increased to P4.8 billion owing to improved gold prices in the global market.

Copper revenues also went up three percent to P2.8 billion while revenues from silver went up to P66.4 million.

Philex attributed the strong performance to operational enhancements, higher equipment efficiency and cost-reduction efforts.

The Padcal mine milled 7.2 million tons of ore, translating to 27.1 million pounds of copper and 79,845 ounces of gold produced.

The company added that the higher average realized prices for gold at $1,273 per ounce more than offset the lower gold output while the increase in copper output more than compensated for the 11 percent drop in average copper prices to $2.19 per pound.

Cost and expenses declined by five percent to P5 billion.

The company paid $7.5 million out of its outstanding $70.5 million debt last year, bringing down its total debt to $63 million as of the end of September.

Meanwhile, Philex is among the 11 mining companies that passed the recently-concluded industry audit of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.