Listed miner Benguet Corp., riding high on the momentum of exceptional operating performance in 2020 following the lifting of the suspension of its nickel operation in Zambales province by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said Wednesday net income jumped over nine times in the first quarter from a year ago.
Benguet said it registered consolidated net income of P518.6 million in the first quarter of 2021, up from P56.7-million net income in the same period last year.
The company said consolidated revenue also grew by more than three times in the three-month period from a year earlier.
“The 915-percent increase in after-tax income was the result of combined earnings from its gold, nickel and lime projects which accounted for total consolidated revenue of P1.3 billion in the first quarter of this year or over three times of last year’s revenue of P408 million,” the company said in a statement.
It said that while cost and operating expenses unavoidably went up by 68 percent year-on-year to P571.1 million on higher corresponding production, selling expenses and payment of excise taxes and royalty fees to the government, the prudent cost management, substantial nickel export and improved gold production volumes supported the big positive variance.
“Amidst the pandemic, the company is steadily pursuing a growth strategy as it continues to implement precautionary measures to protect the health and safety of its employees, contractors and the host communities,” Benguet Corp. said.