KGHM Polska Miedz SA said March 14 that it narrowed its net loss to 134 million Polish zloty in the fourth quarter of 2017, from 5.08 billion zloty in the prior year-ago period, as a result of lower impairments of 310 million zloty recorded in the period compared to 5.3 billion zloty in the fourth quarter of 2016.
The Polish copper miner's sales revenues in the three-month period dropped 2.4% to 5.87 billion zloty, from 6.02 billion zloty, due to 13% lower volume of payable copper sales, partially offset by higher copper prices.
For full-year 2017, the company swung to a profit of 1.53 billion zloty, from a loss of 4.45 billion zloty.
Sales revenue for the year ended Dec. 31, 2017, increased 6.3% to 20.36 billion zloty, from 19.16 billion zloty, as a result of higher copper prices and a lower U.S. dollar exchange rate, but was partially offset by 9% lower copper sales.
Payable group copper production decreased 8% year over year in the fourth quarter as a result of downtime at its Glogów smelter and refinery. The downtime also caused a 3% decrease in full-year payable copper production.
KGHM's 55%-owned Sierra Gorda copper mine in Chile produced 3.3 million pounds in the fourth quarter, as it continued to mine in the portion of the deposit with a lower molybdenum content. In May 2017, the company pulled the plug on a planned phase-two expansion at Sierra Gorda.
Earlier this month, KGHM fired CEO Radoslaw Domagalski-Labedzki as well as his second-in-command Michal Jezioro, the president and vice president of the management board, respectively, for undisclosed reasons.
As of March 14, US$1 was equivalent to 3.39 Polish zloty.
