Atlas Consolidated posts FY23 net income of P1.1-B (down 65%)
Atlas Consolidated [AT 3.31, down 3.2%] [link], a gold and copper mining company, posted an FY23 net income of P1.1 billion, which was 65% lower from its FY22 net income of P3.2 billion. AT said that the majority of this difference was due to “lower copper prices” in FY23, and to the one-time gain that AT […]
![Atlas Consolidated posts FY23 net income of P1.1-B (down 65%)](https://media.philstar.com/photos/2021/11/17/stock-commentarymb_2021-11-17_08-59-59.jpg)
Atlas Consolidated [AT 3.31, down 3.2%] [link], a gold and copper mining company, posted an FY23 net income of P1.1 billion, which was 65% lower from its FY22 net income of P3.2 billion. AT said that the majority of this difference was due to “lower copper prices” in FY23, and to the one-time gain that AT recognized in FY22 on the early payment of a loan. AT said that its average copper price in FY23 was $3.81/pound, which was about 15% lower than the $4.51/pound it got for copper in FY22. AT’s EBITDA was P6.7 billion, up 23% from FY22. In terms of its production, both milling tonnage and its daily mining average were flat, but AT noted significant increases in the quality of the copper ore mined (+10%) and the amount of copper and gold that it was able to recover from the material that it processed (+13% for copper and +20% for gold). It made 5% more shipments of product in FY23, with the biggest increase in the number of ounces of gold sold and shipped (+20%).
MB bottom-line: This is a strong “business” performance being obscured by some accounting, but the most interesting thing about AT is what could be in store for the future. Both copper and gold are expected to increase in value over through 2025, but the significance of that increase varies widely depending on the reports you read and the opinions you let enter your brain. Anyone who has ever gone down the goldbug rabbit hole will know that there’s a wild constellation of analysts that produce price targets and projections based on proprietary blends of “hunches”, conspiracy theories, and dubious internet research. Gold isn’t alone in this regard. Each of the commodity metals has its own goof troop of dudes that take it to levels that could cause even the most rabid of brand fanboys to be like, “Bro, chill.” Reading these insane ramblings is one of my guilty pleasures. It’s like the investor’s version of reading horoscopes or People magazine. I love metals and always have. As a child, I collected coins. As an adult, I love making small metal buys. But I’ve weaned myself from mining stocks. They’re my kryptonite!
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