In a year when the earth's metals grew dearer while the ground itself yielded less, Philex Mining has reported that its core earnings climbed by more than half in the first nine months. The gain rests on the price of gold and copper rather than on the digging, since its main mine, Padcal, moved less ore than before. A weakening peso, which makes borrowed dollars heavier to carry, has pulled reported profit far below the underlying story. Meanwhile its Silangan mine has at last reached first metal, a quiet beginning that asks to be judged by what follows.
Higher Metal Prices Lift Philex Core Earnings 56% Despite Padcal Output Decline and Peso Losses
The lift came from price, not volume.
Mark
Core earnings are up 56 percent, but revenue for nine months is down. How does that work?
Mimi
Prices did the work. Gold averaged $4,519 an ounce and copper $6.59 a pound, up 24 and 49 percent. That made up for less metal coming out of Padcal.
Mark
And costs?
Mimi
Flat at ₱1.960 billion in the quarter, so operating income rose 28 percent to ₱710 million.
Luke
Worth separating two numbers, though. The 56 percent increase is described for the nine months at ₱749 million, but the disclosure also gives ₱537 million versus ₱344 million for the quarter. Those are different periods, and the source text blurs them.
Mimi
Fair. The nine-month core figure is ₱749 million; the ₱537 million comparison is the one the report labels as January to September, so the periods don't line up cleanly.
Mark
What hurt reported earnings?
Mimi
The peso. It averaged 62.18 per dollar versus 57.70, and dollar borrowings were revalued, producing ₱241 million in quarterly forex losses and ₱649 million over nine months.
Luke
Those are accounting losses on revaluation. The reporting doesn't say how much debt is involved or whether cash was paid out.
Mark
And Silangan?
Mimi
It produced first copper cathodes and first gold-silver doré after commissioning.
Luke
First metal isn't production at scale. No volumes or timeline are given, and the Q4 Padcal momentum is the company's expectation, not a result.
Il Polso
- Core net income surged 56 percent, but only because metal prices rose while the Padcal mine milled 22 percent less ore.
- A weaker peso turned dollar debt into a ₱649 million forex loss that dragged reported nine-month profit down to ₱110 million.
- Padcal's gold and copper output dipped year over year, yet recovered from the second quarter as the company works to steady its operations.
- A three-day October strike ended with a signed labor agreement, clearing the way for hoped-for momentum into the fourth quarter.
- Silangan Mine has finished commissioning and poured its first gold-silver doré, and investors are now waiting to see how fast it ramps up.
In a year when the earth's metals grew dearer while the ground itself yielded less, Philex Mining has reported that its core earnings climbed by more than half in the first nine months. The gain rests on the price of gold and copper rather than on the digging, since its main mine, Padcal, moved less ore than before. A weakening peso, which makes borrowed dollars heavier to carry, has pulled reported profit far below the underlying story. Meanwhile its Silangan mine has at last reached first metal, a quiet beginning that asks to be judged by what follows.
Philex Mining told the Philippine Stock Exchange this week that its core earnings rose 56 percent, even as its main mine produced noticeably less than a year ago. The gain came from price rather than volume. Gold and copper sold for far more than in 2025, and those higher prices carried the quarter.
For the first nine months, core net income reached ₱749 million, and EBITDA climbed 37 percent. Revenues slipped two percent, a result the company ties to a 22 percent drop in milled tonnage at Padcal. In the third quarter alone, revenues grew six percent, though Padcal's ore milled fell 13 percent and gold output dropped 35 percent. Compared with the second quarter, output did improve, with gold up eight percent and copper up five percent. Costs held flat, lifting operating income 28 percent.
The weaker peso left its mark on the bottom line. Revaluing dollar-denominated borrowings produced large foreign exchange losses, which pulled reported nine-month net income down to ₱110 million from ₱482 million a year earlier.
Elsewhere, the Silangan Mine in Surigao del Norte has completed commissioning and produced its first metal, including copper cathodes and its first gold-silver doré. At Padcal, a brief October strike ended with a signed labor agreement, and the company expects operations to keep improving into the fourth quarter. The coming test is whether Padcal's recovery holds and how quickly Silangan moves toward meaningful output.
Philex Mining Corp. told the Philippine Stock Exchange this week that its core earnings rose 56 percent, even as the mine that supplies most of its metal produced noticeably less than it did a year ago. The lift came from price, not volume: gold and copper sold for far more than they did in 2025.
The company's disclosure puts the first nine months of 2026 core net income at ₱749 million, with EBITDA up 37 percent to ₱1.976 billion. Nine-month operating revenues slipped two percent to ₱6.171 billion, a result Philex attributes to a 22 percent drop in milled tonnage.
The third quarter shows the same pattern in sharper form. Operating revenues grew six percent to ₱2.670 billion from ₱2.522 billion a year earlier. Average realized gold prices jumped 24 percent to $4,519 per ounce, while copper rose 49 percent to $6.59 per pound. Those prices covered for a weaker quarter at Padcal, where ore milled fell 13 percent to 1.550 million tonnes. Gold production dropped 35 percent to 4,322 ounces and copper output slipped 28 percent to 3.542 million pounds. Against the second quarter, though, output improved: gold rose eight percent and copper five percent.
Costs held steady. Operating costs and expenses stayed flat at ₱1.960 billion, so operating income rose 28 percent to ₱710 million. The company also reported that third-quarter core net income climbed from ₱344 million to ₱537 million, and reported net income rose 72 percent to ₱310 million from ₱180 million.
The weaker peso took a bite out of the bottom line. Net other charges narrowed slightly to ₱250 million, but that figure includes ₱241 million in foreign exchange losses from revaluing US dollar-denominated borrowings. The peso averaged 62.18 per dollar in the quarter, compared with 57.70 in the same period of 2025. Over nine months, forex losses were wider at ₱649 million, which cut reported net income to ₱110 million from ₱482 million a year earlier.
Separately, Philex said its flagship Silangan Mine in Surigao del Norte has completed its commissioning phase and produced its first metal. That includes copper cathodes from copper leaching and the mine's first gold-silver doré.
Back at Padcal, the company expects operating momentum to continue through the fourth quarter. A three-day labor strike in October ended with a signed collective bargaining agreement. What to watch next is whether Padcal's sequential recovery holds and how quickly Silangan moves from first metal toward meaningful output.
Citazioni salienti
Operating momentum at Padcal is expected to persist through the fourth quarter after a three-day October strike ended with a signed collective bargaining agreement.— Philex Mining Corp. disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (paraphrased)
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