Inco nets US$4.1m profit

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed tin mining company PT Inco announced on Wednesday an unaudited net profit of US$4.1 million for the second quarter of the year, a 25.4 percent decrease from $5.5 million in the second quarter of last year.

"Our results and cash generation continued to improve in this quarter, compared with the previous quarter. As a result of an increase in nickel prices, Inco has begun making a profit after incurring losses for two consecutive quarters," company president and chief executive officer Rumengan Musu said in a statement.

Inco made a loss of $2.1 million in the first quarter of the year.

The company said the price for its nickel in matte averaged $4,122 per ton ($1.87 per pound) in the second quarter of the year, up from $3,401 per ton ($1.54 per pound) in the first quarter of the year.

The company produced 10,770 tons (23.5 million pounds) of nickel in matte in the second quarter of the year, slightly up from 10,440 tons (23 million pounds) in the first quarter of the year, the statement said.

The statement said the company was about to complete its expansion project which would raise the company's annual capacity by 50 percent to 68,000 tons (150 million pounds). (jsk)