LISTED mining firm Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) reported on Monday its full acquisition of Geogen Corp.’s (Geogen) 240-million shares for P694 million.
“The company considers this transaction an important milestone in the furtherance of its growth strategy,” NAC said in a disclosure.
Out of the total amount considered for the deal, P484,767,767 of cash is for the purchase of Geogen shares at a par value of P2.019 each and P209,232,233 is for the assignment of the advances.
Geogen is the claim owner of Isabela Nickel Project, with a total area of 2,392 hectares covered by MPSA 258-2007-II.
The operating rights of Nihao Mineral Resources International’s (Nihao) over this mining project in Dinapigue, Isabela, will then be turned into preferred shares in the former.
Nihao and Geogen will sign a Shareholder’s Agreement to qualify such shares for entitlement to dividends equivalent to 20 percent of operating income and net of income tax.
NAC is a global supplier of lateritic nickel ore and operates as a nickel mining company in the country with four operating mines: Rio Tuba, Taganito, Cagdianao and Taganaan sites.
Its subsidiaries includes HMC; Cagdianao Mining Corp.; Taganito Mining Corp.; Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corp.; Samar Nickel Mining Resources; Cordillera Exploration Co. Inc.; Taganito HPAL Nickel Corp.; La Costa Shipping and Lighterage Corp.; and Falck Exp Inc.
The firm reported that its four mines – Taganito, Rio Tuba, Cagdianao, and Hinatuan—sold an aggregate of 9.8 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore in the first half of 2015, or 25 percent more than the 7.73 million WMT during the same period last year.
But its estimated value of shipments from January to June of this year declined to P7.46 billion from P8.93 billion in the first six months of 2014.
Revenues in the first quarter of this year reached P3.12 billion from P1.7 billion in the same period last year, mainly due to higher sales volumes and prices.
Net income also increased, inclusive of P140.3 million and P72.5 million in equity income from Taganito HPAL Nickel Corp. and Coral Bay Nickel Corp., respectively.
From January to March of this year, NAC’s attributable net income (net of minority interests) amounted to P675.8 million, up 281 percent from P177.1 million in the first quarter of 2014.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization reached P1.56 billion from P795.5 million during the periods in review.