Malaysia Smelting Corporation’s second quarter and first half results show improving profitability at its core smelting and mining operations in Malaysia, although these gains were offset by a final round of losses caused by its withdrawal from Indonesia in June. The sale of companies connected to its former 75% interest in PT Koba Tin and local representative office PT MSC Indonesia for nominal sums at the beginning of June generated losses of M$32.63 million (US$10.3 million), tipping the company into a first half 2014 net loss of RMB14.2 million (US$4.5 million).
Pre-tax profits from the company’s Butterworth smelter rose by 15.6% to M$26.43 million (US$7.7 million) in January-June, despite the fact that refined tin production fell by 11.7% year-on-year to 12,349 tonnes. Meanwhile higher average tin prices boosted the pre-tax profit of Rahman Hydraulic Tin by 15.4% to M$17.3 million (US$5.5 million).
In a Malaysian stock exchange filing, the company only commented briefly on prospects for the rest of the year: “The global economy will remain challenging. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Butterworth international smelting business and Rahman Hydraulic tin mine are expected to continue to perform satisfactorily.”
