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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)
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