Atlas gets P129-M loan from BDO for capex

MANILA, Philippines - Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. has obtained a P129-million credit facility from Banco De Oro Unibank Inc.

In its disclosure to the stock exchange, Atlas, partly owned by the Sy-led firm SM Investments Corp., said the loan would be used to fund its working capital requirements.

Atlas is exploring potential copper sites to expand mining operations in central Cebu province as it aims to ramp up capacity by 50 percent or to 100,000 tons of copper concentrates per day in two years. The group is also looking at some areas in Mindanao.

Analysts said copper prices will remain firm owing to the continued strong demand in China and tight global supply. Of all base metals, copper features the most robust, short-term fundamentals.

Atlas chalked in a net income of P1.6 billion in the nine months ending September 2011, a reversal of the P85-million loss incurred in the same period a year earlier. The strong performance was attributed to higher output of wholly-owned unit Carmen Copper Corp., which operates the Toledo mine in Cebu, and to higher copper prices.

Carmen Copper’s core net income reached P2.21 billion, nearly three times that of the previous level.

BDO has until July this year to decide whether or not to convert its loan of P5.34 billion into equity in Atlas. Should it decide to exercise its debt-to-equity conversion option, the SM Group would raise its stake in the mining firm to about 33 percent from 17 percent.