Philex Mining Corp. said it booked a net income of P776 million in 2015, up 10 percent from P703 million in 2014, as it contained its expenses to offset lower revenues.
Philex said in a statement the strict implementation of cost reduction programs and tight expense management had enabled the company to mitigate the impact of low metal prices.
Core net income fell to P905 million from P1.122 billion in 2014 while net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company declined to P896 million from P1.006 billion a year earlier.
Consolidated revenues amounted to P9.362 billion in 2015, down from P10.898 billion in 2014.
Philex said its Padcal mine milled 9.2 million tons of ore last year, down from 9.5 million tons in 2014.
This translated into 107,887 ounces of gold produced, compared to 105,008 ounces produced in the previous year while copper output reached 34.1 million pounds, down from 35.4 million pounds.
The mining company said the average realized prices of gold went down by 10 percent to $1,147 per ounce from $1,270 an ounce in 2014.
The average copper prices also dropped 23 percent to $2.29 per pound in 2015 from $2.98 per pound in 2014.
Philex said consolidated operating cost and expenses in 2015 went down to P7.324 billion from P8.415 billion in 2014.
“The recent modest improvement in gold prices is a welcome development but the overall global economic environment remains volatile and will continue to put pressure on metal prices and the Company’s revenue generation,” said Philex president and chief executive Eulalio Austin Jr.
“As such, we shall continue to explore ways to contain our costs and expenses without sacrificing output and efficiency. Innovation on how we do things will always be our topmost priority. We shall also look for other means to augment the Company’s revenue, such as disposal of non-core assets,” Austin said.