(Alliance News) - Tharisa PLC on Thursday lowered its annual dividend following a sharp drop in profit amid a revenue decline due to lower sales of platinum group metals and chrome concentrates.
For the year to the end of September, pretax profit dropped by 83% to USD11.2 million from USD65.0 million the year before, on revenue that declined by 16% to USD342.9 million from USD406.3 million.
This was due to lower sales, with the sales of PGM concentrate at USD177.9 million compared to USD250.4 million the prior year, amid a drop in chrome prices.
PGM production declined by 8.1% to 139,700 ounces from 152,000 ounces the year before, with recoveries at 82% compared to 84.1%.
Chrome concentrate production was 1.29 million tonnes, down from 1.45 million tonnes the prior year, with recoveries at 61% compared to 65%.
Tharisa declared a dividend of 0.75 US cents per share, down 81% from 4.0 US cents the year before
Looking ahead, Tharisa has guided for current financial year PGM production in the range of 155,000 ounces to 165,000 ounces, and chrome output between 1.45 million tonnes to 1.55 million tonnes.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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Tharisa (THS)