PH's Kiyomi Watanabe wins silver in judo

Nami Nabekura of Japan and Kiyomi Watanabe grapple during the Judo Women’s -63kg Gold Medal Match of the 2018 Asian Games at JCC Plenary Hall in Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday. Nabekura took the gold with Watanabe winning the Philippines’ first silver medal.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Nickel miner TVI defers PSE until Feb. 29

MANILA - Nickel miner TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc. (TVIRD) has deferred a planned listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange to Feb. 29 next year, subject to market conditions and regulatory approvals, shareholder TVI Pacific Inc. of Canada said.

Delays in regulatory approvals, which TVI said was partly due to local public holidays, had prompted it to postpone the initial public offering.

The miner was previously looking at a Dec. 18 listing after a 1 billion peso ($21 million) IPO intended to fund a gold and silver mining project.

"TVI remains optimistic about the prospects for the IPO in early 2016 given TVIRD's diverse pipeline of projects and the strong support of its majority shareholder, Prime Resource Holdings Inc.," Clifford James, chairman and CEO of TVI and chairman of TVIRD, said in a statement.

TVIRD has filed an updated IPO prospectus and is still looking to sell up to 272.02 million primary shares and up to 136.01 million shares currently held by existing shareholders, at a price of up to 3.71 pesos per share.

"We believe the establishment of a public market for TVIRD shares will allow North American investors to better evaluate the value of TVI's 30.66 percent indirect interest and provide us with a potential source of non-dilutive funding," James said.

After market volatility took its toll on local listings this year, the country's bourse expects a busy year ahead with Philippine companies likely to raise as much as 200 billion pesos in fresh equity capital via share sales.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Apex makes financial turnaround

MANILA - Listed mining firm Apex Mining Co. Inc. reported a consolidated net income of P81.7 million in the first half, reversing the net loss of P279 million in the same period last year amid declining metal prices.

The turnaround was due to higher revenues owing to higher gold and silver output. First semester revenues surged to P1.17 billion from only P685.35 million a year ago.

However, in the second quarter alone, the company incurred a net loss of P18.56 million, lower than the P135.53 million net loss incurred in the April to June 2014 period. Revenues increased to P511.36 million from P422.18 million.

“While average metal prices were lower at $1,215 per ounce gold and $17 per ounce silver this year, increased production output to 20,334 ounces gold and 107,036 ounces silver more than compensated for the unfavorable downtrend in metal prices,” Apex Mining said in its quarterly report.

During the first half, Apex Mining focused on development activities for the Maco mine in Compostela Valley to improve the mine’s operating capability.

The company secured a P2.25 billion loan from BDO to procure the necessary capital equipment to push forward mine development activities, said Walter W. Brown, president and CEO of Apex Mining.

The loan proceeds would help the company achieve its goal of milling at the rate of least 1,500 tons per day this year.

“Hopefully by the fourth quarter, we would be reaching this important milestone in our thrust to elevate the Maco mine’s operating capability to deliver 4,000 ounces of gold a month,” Brown said.

Last June, Apex Mining acquired 98 percent of Itogon-Suyoc Resources Inc. for P182.7 million.

Apex Mining has infused P238 million in new equity in Itogon-Suyoc to pay down its debt and to reopen its Sangilo mine.

“We should be producing at 75 tons a day from this mine by yearend, and at 200 tons a day by next year. This will further boost the company’s production output and provide additional buffer to counter the declining trend in metal prices,” Brown said.

Apex has set aside P1.9 billion in capital expenditures this year, of which P690.2 million has already been spent.

Read more on Philippine Star. 

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com