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(Alliance News) - Jubilee Metals Group PLC on Thursday reported a sharp increase in profit for the first half of its financial year, as revenue more than doubled on a strong performance from its platinum operations.
Shares in Jubilee Metals were 16% higher at 2.62 pence on Thursday in London, while its Johannesburg shares were 15% higher at ZAR0.54.
For the six months to the end of December, the metals miner reported a pretax profit of GBP6.6 million, up from GBP762,000 the year before.
This was on revenue that nearly tripled year-on-year to GBP25.4 million from GBP8.3 million.
In its PGM division, Jubilee said its project revenue more than doubled to GBP16.1 million year-on-year, as the delivery of PGM concentrate increased by 72% to 21,082 ounces through the group's Windsor project coming into operation in August.
Meanwhile, from its Chrome operations, project revenue rose eight-fold to GBP8.8 million, as chrome concentrate production sharply rose to 186,249 tonnes from 17,011 tonnes.
The stronger performance was attributed to the entry of new third party ore acquisition agreement which better reflected market conditions.
Looking ahead, on Tuesday Jubilee said it would place its South African operations under care and maintenance, adhering to a lockdown imposed by the country's president.
The company said it has not reported any Covid-19 cases from its sites, but in anticipation of the lockdown, has adopted measures to "identify high risk situations and personnel".
"We have made some very significant progress, including the completion of two strategic
transactions, and the results as a whole, demonstrate the robustness of our business model
generating significant cash flow for the group. Despite volatile metal prices, including in particular the volatility we have seen in chrome prices, our diversity across commodities has meant we have delivered record earnings on the back of increased production," said Chief Executive Officer Leon Coetzer.
"Whilst we are aware that the Covid-19 situation is evolving, we have a robust business model and are confident that the business will be able to withstand this disruption having, in anticipation, already taken proactive measures to minimise costs and maximise production leading up to this guidance," Coetzer added.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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