text: Falconbridge Ltd said it expected results for the rest of 1987 to improve from the earlier reported first quarter operating loss of 15.4 mln dlrs. Chief executive William James told reporters after the annual meeting that I would hope that the loss for the year certainly wouldnt be a high as the loss for the first quarter. In other words we are going to make money from here on in. Falconbridge last year made a first quarter operating loss of 17.1 mln dlrs and a full-year operating loss of 15.5 mln dlrs. James said currency losses tied to the stronger Canadian dollar resulted for about eight mln dlrs of the first quarter operating loss. Falconbridge records its cash and accounts receivable in U.S. dollars with the Canadian dollar equivalent decreasing as the U.S. dollar falls. He said the first quarter loss also stemmed from weaker nickel and ferronickel prices and lower production at the companys Sudbury Ontario nickel operations and at some Kidd Creek operations. Falconbridge anticipates higher production through the rest of the year and higher average prices this year for precious metals James added without elaborating. Falconbridge has no immediate plans for further divestments James said in reply to reporters inquiries. The company sold several mining subsidiaries last year to help pay down debt from its January 1986 acquisition of Kidd Creek Mines Ltd from Canada Development Corp &lt;CDC.TO>. He said Falconbridges debt now totaled about one billion dlrs down from 1.37 billion dlrs at the time of the Kidd Creek buy. James said he could not assess the impact of Amoco Corp &lt;AN>s proposed acquisition of Dome Petroleum Ltd &lt;DMP>. Domes 23 pct-owned Dome Mines Ltd &lt;DM> owns 21 pct of Falconbridge. Asked by reporters if Falconbridge preferred competing Dome bidder Calgary Alberta-based TransCanada PipeLines Ltd to Chicago-based Amoco James replied It makes no difference to me...whoever takes it over is fine by us. He told shareholders that Falconbridges planned capital expenditures this year would decline to 134 mln dlrs from 160 mln dlrs last year. Reuter
target: FALCONBRIDGE <FALCF.O> SEES IMPROVED RESULTS