FNI income up 9% to P2.2 billion in 2022

MANILA, Philippines — Nickel producer Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. (FNI) saw net earnings grow by nine percent as higher nickel prices and favorable foreign exchange environment offset lower production.

The company recorded a net income of P2.2 billion last year, higher than the P1.98 billion recorded a year earlier, FNI said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday.

Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margin expanded to 48 percent from 39 percent in the previous year.

“Our performance during the year showed our company’s ability to evolve and make further progress against our strategic priorities,” FNI president Dante Bravo said.

The company official noted the commissioning and start of commercial export of nickel ore from FNI’s mine in Palawan.

Last September, FNI’s affiliate Ipilan Nickel Corp. completed its maiden shipment of ore from its mine site in Brooke’s Point, Palawan.

It loaded 54,700 WMT of medium-grade nickel ore on M/V He Sheng Nan Fang as its first export to Guangdong Century Tsingshan Nickel Industry Co., Ltd in China (GCTN).

GCTN is a long-standing customer of FNI’s Surigao-based Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC) and looks forward to building a solid relationship with Ipil Nickel.

“We also completed the acquisition of a 20 percent stake in Guangdong Century Tsingshan Nickel Industry Co. Ltd (GCTN), the owner of a 33-hectare rotary kiln-electric furnace (RKEF) processing facility in China that caters to customers from within and outside Guangdong’s Economic and Technological Development Zones,” Bravo said.

He said these two developments should enable the company to carry out production all year-round and generate improved financial growth as it scales and integrates the business.

“We believe this positions us to achieve more consistent profitability throughout the year. It will also allow us to benefit from higher nickel prices and China’s ongoing reopening, which is expected to prompt a rebound in stainless steel production and in the new energy vehicle supply chain,” Bravo said.

FNI’s revenues decreased by  13 percent  to P6.7 billion due to adverse weather, but this was partially offset by a rise in medium-grade ore prices and a favorable foreign exchange impact when compared to 2021.

Total shipped volume declined by 24 percent to 3.735 million wet metric tons (WMT) resulting from weather events such as more rain days that affected the production of nickel ore.