A dismal performance from the company’s primary metals business led to a US$5.8-million loss for Inco (TSE) in the fourth quarter of 1991, compared with earnings of US$72.6 million for the same period in 1990.
The loss contributed to an overall reduction in annual earnings, from US$441.2 in 1990 to US$82.6 million in 1991.
Inco says the poor results stem from a combination of lower nickel, copper and precious metal prices and higher production costs. The company’s average realized price per pound of nickel dropped from US$4.10 in 1990 to US$3.84 in 1991.
Incentive programs for early retirement at the Sudbury and United Kingdom operations, which cost the company US$31.1 million after tax, also gouged profits.
Inco plans to slash its capital expenditures from US$440 million to US$280 million in 1992 as a project to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions at the Sudbury smelter winds down.
Inco’s finished nickel inventories, at 45 million lb., were at their lowest year-end level in 20 years on Dec. 31, 1991.
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