Shares in Australia’s Mineral Resources fell as much as 10% on Wednesday after the company delivered its worst first-half financial results in three years.
Net profit dived 96% to just A$20 million due to plunging iron ore prices and higher costs. The company shares stood at A$52.495 at 4pm Sydney time, down 9.3% on Tuesday’s close.
The miner and mining services company posted an underlying net loss after tax of $36 million and scrapped its interim dividend.
“These results do not reflect the substantial progress in our iron ore, lithium and gas businesses during the last six months which will create significant value for decades to come and which underpins our long-term growth for our mining services division,” chief executive Chris Ellison said.
Mineral Resources’ revenue fell 12% to $1.4 billion while cash on hand fell 51% to $800 million.
The company said it remained on target to meet volume guidance for fiscal 2022 of a 15-20% increase for mining services, spodumene export guidance of 450,000-475,000 tonnes a year and the revised full-year iron ore export guidance of 18.5-19.5 million tonnes per year.
Mineral Resources said it would increase indigenous Australian participation in its business after the hiring of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders grew 76% in 2021.
This week, it signed a three-year funding and partnership agreement with the Goldfields Aboriginal Business Chamber to support more indigenous businesses across the region of Western Australia in which it operates.
• George Russell
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