Phelps Dodge strong despite price slump

Despite a drop in the price of copper, Phelps Dodge (NYSE) was able to post strong earnings for the first quarter.

The company earned US$153.1 million (or US$2.26 per share) for the first quarter, compared with US$185.3 million (US$2.61 per share) for the same period last year.

The results include an after-tax gain of US$16.6 million from the sale of Columbian Chemicals’ MAPICO division.

Phelps Dodge’s share of mine production was 190,200 tons of copper during the quarter, which is up from 157,300 tons for the same period in 1995. Sales of copper were also up, compared with last year. Revenues for the company exceeded US$1 billion, which is down slightly from last year.

Since the beginning of the year, Phelps Dodge has bought 2.3 million shares of its common stock at a cost of US$146.8 million. In all, the company has bought back just over 5 million shares, under its current repurchasing program, at a cost of US$305 million. It is authorized to buy another 5 million shares.

At present, the company has 66.7 million shares outstanding.