Vale?s 3Q profit drops to $1.9m
Friday, October 27 2017 - 07:06 AM WIB
Petromindo|Lucky
IDX-listed integrated nickel mining firm PT Vale Indonesia Tbk announced Thursday that unaudited profit in the third quarter (3Q) of this year reached US$1.9 million.
While the company did not provide comparative figure, this is a sharp drop from 3Q 2016 unaudited net profit of $13 million reported in October of last year.
Last week, PT Vale said that it produced 20,163 metric tons (t) of nickel in matte in the third quarter of 2017, down from 21,744t in the corresponding period of last year.
The company, which has been under pressure by falling commodity price since the past couple of years, did not provide much explanation about the third quarter profit performance.
In a statement, PT Vale said that EBITDA in 3Q17 was US$34.1 million, higher than the $10.9 million in 2Q17, primarily due to higher sales volume. The company?s cash and cash equivalents as of September 30, 2017 and June 30, 2017 were $236.6 million and $260.7 million, respectively as the company received higher tax refunds in 2Q17. ?PT Vale will continue to exercise prudent control of its spending to preserve cash,? the statement said.
PT Vale said it disbursed approximately $16.9 million in capital expenditures this quarter, up from $11.9 million in 2Q17. ?Our capital expenditure forecast for 2017 is now approximately $66 million.?
The company said production forecast for 2017 is now around 78,000 t, which is close to the actual production in 2016 of 77,581 t. The company said it will maintain its focus on improving cost efficiency to sustain competitiveness in the long term.
On the cost side, the company?s cost of revenue per metric ton of nickel matte sold in 3Q17 declined by 13 percent from the previous quarter. This was driven primarily by a recovery in provision for decline in inventory value. Excluding the depreciation, amortization and impact of recovery in provision for decline in inventory value, the cash cost of revenue per metric ton of nickel matte sold in 3Q17 declined by 1 percent from the previous quarter.
?I am pleased to report a profitable third quarter for 2017 as we continue our focus on improving efficiency and reducing costs,? said Nico Kanter, CEO and President Director of the company in a statement. The average realized nickel price in 3Q17 was 1 percent higher than the average realized price in 2Q17. ?However, appreciating the volatility in the market, we continue to exercise caution towards the nickel price,? said Nico.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak