Half Year Earning Update
Date: 22/2/2024
*** GENERAL AVICE ONLY***
Highlight
- Strong operational performance across all business segments.
- Solid financial results with increased revenue and EBITDA.
- Robust liquidity position and completion of a significant Senior Unsecured Notes Offering.
- Continued industry-leading safety performance.
- Significant progress in mining services, iron ore, lithium, and energy sectors, including new contract awards, project advancements, and strategic acquisitions.
- Declaration of a fully franked interim dividend.
Financial Performance
- Revenue: Increased by 7% to $2,514.7 million, reflecting solid growth across its operations.
- Underlying EBITDA: Decreased by 28% to $674.9 million, indicating some challenges despite the revenue increase.
- Statutory Net Profit After Tax (NPAT): Grew by 33% to $518.0 million, showcasing strong profitability.
- Diluted Earnings Per Share (EPS): Saw an increase of 35% to 272.41 cents per share, reflecting the company’s increased profitability on a per-share basis.
- Interim Dividend Declared: Was set at 20.00 cents per share, which is down by 83% from the previous period, indicating a more conservative approach to dividend payouts.
- Cash Conversion: Stood at 122%, up from 60%, demonstrating efficient conversion of earnings into cash.
- Capital Expenditure (Capex): Increased by 99% to $1,476.0 million, highlighting significant investments in the business.
- Cash: Remained stable at $1,383.1 million, ensuring the company has a solid liquidity position.
- Net Debt: Increased by 91% to $3,546.7 million, reflecting the company’s higher leverage.
- Net Assets: Grew by 13% to $3,985.3 million, indicating a healthy growth in the company’s asset base.
- Return on Invested Capital (ROIC): Was at 5.3%, down from 18.4%, suggesting a decrease in the efficiency of capital use.
Business Operations
- Mining Services: Generated revenue of $473.4 million with an Underlying EBITDA of $253.7 million. This segment includes Engineering and Construction services within the Australian resources sector.
- Iron Ore: Contributed $979.0 million to revenue and achieved an Underlying EBITDA of $266.2 million.
- Lithium: Recorded revenue of $704.5 million and an Underlying EBITDA of $271.4 million, indicating strong performance in the lithium segment.
- Energy: This segment had minimal revenue of $8.2 million with a slight Underlying EBITDA of $1.5 million, reflecting its exploratory and developmental nature.
- Other Commodities: Included Manganese and Garnet operations from Resource Development Group Limited (RDG), with minor contributions to the overall business performance.
Segment assets and liabilities were also reported, with significant assets allocated to the Lithium segment ($3426.6 million) and the Mining Services segment ($3321.0 million). Overall, the company’s total revenue was $2514.7 million with an Underlying EBITDA of $674.9 million.
Mt Marion underground update
Significant 111% increase in the underground mineral resource for the Mt Marion lithium mine, now totaling 19.3Mt at 1.22% Li2O as of 31 January 2024. This increase is attributed to a successful diamond drilling program, which also supports the decision to commence underground exploration. The document outlines detailed mineral resource updates, including indicated and inferred categories, and discusses the geological, drilling, sampling, and estimation methodologies employed. Further exploration and drilling are planned to continue enhancing the mineral resource confidence and support detailed mine planning.
FY24 Outlook
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