Benguet Corp gets P500-M loan for working capital

MANILA, Philippines - Benguet Corp. has obtained a P500-million omnibus credit facility from Banco De Oro Unibank for its working capital requirements.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange yesterday, Benguet president Philip G. Romualdez said the company would continue the development of its gold tailings reprocessing project, the expansion of the Acupan gold mine and its Sta.cruz nickel project, as well as its other mining and exploration projects.

He said the company is focusing on the expansion of the Acupan mine to capitalize on rising prices of gold.

Benguet is currently developing the infrastructure and support facilities required for its expanded nickel operations after it has paid most of its debts from the sale of its rights to the Kingking copper-gold project in Compostela Valley.

The company has received offers from various parties to finance its projects.

In the nine months ending September 2011, Benguet reported a net income of P1.76 billion, a reversal of the P58.3-million loss incurred the previous year-period. The turnaround was attributed to increased gold and nickel production, higher metal prices and gain from the continuing settlement of the company’s debt.

Benguet earlier said it was eyeing a net income of over P1 billion this year and a healthy retained earnings position following a quasi-reorganization.

The quasi-reorganization, approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission last Dec. 5, allowed Benguet to wipe out its retained earnings deficit of P2.16 billion.

The equity restructuring involves the offsetting of the company’s additional paid-in capital against the deficit while the quasi-reorganization entails the zeroing out of the deficit balance by charging against it a portion of the appraisal increment account.

Benguet hopes to sustain positive operating results through its enhanced gold and nickel operations.