(Adds detail on iron ore fines prices)
RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Brazilian iron ore miner Vale SA's quarterly net income jumped by 47 percent but still badly missed analyst estimates, depressed by rising costs and foreign exchange related losses.
In a securities filing on Tuesday, the world's largest iron ore producer said net income totaled $771 million in the quarter, well below a consensus estimate of $2.537 billion but still above the $525 million in profit during the same period last year.
Costs rose 11 percent to $6.260 billion, while net operating revenue slipped 1 percent to $9.167 billion.
Vale said a loss of $1.287 billion from its financial operations was due to non-cash exchange rate variations, losses on currency derivatives and other instruments, mainly stemming from a 4.2 percent depreciation in the real currency in the quarter.
That compares with a financial loss of $603 million in the fourth quarter of 2016. ( )
The results were also crimped by a slide in prices for iron ore fines, used to make pellets and later steel, which fell to $63.10 per tonne in the fourth quarter from $67.17 in the third quarter and $69.40 in the same period last year.
However, base metals boasted their best quarterly showing since 2011, thanks to higher prices and lower costs.
Cash flow increased to $2.744 billion in the quarter, helping Vale to cut net debt by 14 percent on a sequential basis to $18.143 billion.
Vale has said it expects to slash debt to $10 billion by mid-2018. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 13 percent to $4.109 billion, still exceeding a consensus estimate of $3.865 billion compiled by Thomson Reuters.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ GRAPHIC of Vale results ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Tom Brown and Lisa Shumaker)
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