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(Alliance News) - Bushveld Minerals Ltd said Monday that pretax profit rose in the first half of 2019, despite a decline in revenue from lower sales volumes.
For the six months to the end of June, the vanadium producer reported pretax profit of USD44.7 million, up from USD41.5 million a year before, despite a 7% decline in revenue to USD78.0 million from USD83.7 million.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation was down 4% to USD41.0 million from USD42.8 million the prior year; however reduced costs at Vametco drove a higher Ebitda margin of 53% compared to 51%.
Bushveld's vanadium resource bases consists of three mineral assets in the Bushveld Complex in South Africa: Vamteco, Brits and Mokopane.
In Vametco, Bushveld produced 1,392 metric tonnes of vanadium, up 2.4% from 1,360 mtV a year before; however sales were 21% lower at 1,115 mtV, with the LMB weighted price per annum down 14% to USD56.3 per kilogram from USD65.5 the prior year.
Looking ahead, Bushveld said the medium- to long-term outlook for vanadium remains positive, and the company's low cost curve position means it is well placed to withstand the recent weakness in commodity prices.
"I am pleased to report that Bushveld Minerals has continued to build on firm foundations in the first half of 2019, enjoying progress across the Group and establishing new platforms for further future growth," said Chief Executive Officer Fortune Mojapelo.
"Operational performance has been improved through our transformation programme at Vametco, which we started to implement at the beginning of the year. Execution of the transformation programme is ongoing throughout the rest of this year and into 2020, during which we will reach a steady state of production of 3,400 mtV per annum," Mojapelo added.
Shares in Bushveld Minerals were up 1.2% at 20.95 pence on Monday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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