UPDATE 2-Brazil's Vale Q4 net profit tumbles, but beats forecasts

(Recasts, changes headline and adds quotes, context) By Marta Nogueira and Roberto Samora SAO PAULO, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Brazil's Vale SA said on Thursday its fourth-quarter net profit fell 30.4%, under pressure from reduced production and lower iron ore prices, while still beating analysts' forecasts. Vale, one of the world's largest iron ore miners, posted net income of $3.724 billion, compared to the $2.5 billion forecast compiled by Refinitiv, or 82 cents a share, beating the Refinitiv forecast of 63 cents. Iron ore production was down 1% in the quarter to 80.85 million tonnes, with an average realized price of iron ore fines of $95.6 per tonne, compared to $107 per tonne in Q4 in 2021. Vale's quarterly net was hit by a financial loss of $658 million resulting from foreign exchange fluctuation and other factors, reversing the $3.16 billion gain seen a year earlier. Net operating revenues fell 8.8% to $11.94 billion while costs and expenses rose by 9.2% to $7.895 billion. The company's proforma adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell by 27% to $5 billion. On a sequential basis, the company's EBITDA rose $1 billion due to higher iron ore sales volumes and higher realized nickel and copper prices. Nickel prices rose 28% from the year before to $24,454 per tonne. Vale's capital expenditures in the fourth-quarter totaled $1.8 billion, including growth and maintenance investments, roughly stable from a year earlier. In a statement, Vale's Chief Executive Eduardo Bartolomeo said that on operations, the company took "concrete actions to deliver on our long-term growth guidance." The company's expanded net debt rose $856 million from the third quarter to $14.1 billion. (Reporting by Marta Nogueira and Roberto Samora; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle and Christopher Cushing)