ICHOR Coal N.V.
ICHOR Coal N.V.: Ichor Coal N.V.’s half year results to end-June 2015
DGAP-News: ICHOR Coal N.V. / Key word(s): Half Year Results/Interim Report Ichor Coal N.V.’s half year results to end-June 2015 Johannesburg, 30 September 2015: Ichor Coal N.V., the international mining company focusing on thermal coal production in South Africa, has published its results for the interim financial period to end June 2015. Revenue was 13% down to EUR22.7m on the prior year due largely to the 25% year-on-year drop in the export coal price and a fall in overall sales. Cost of sales increased from EUR17.9m to EUR19.2m on the back of the strengthening of the rand against the euro. However, on a rand basis, the cost of sales decreased by 3% year-on-year. As a result, gross profit declined from EUR8.2m to EUR3.5m. The negative trend in the results drivers was partially offset by a foreign exchange translation gain resulting from the appreciation of the rand/euro exchange rate. The net result was a drop in ebitda to EUR3.1m from EUR4.6m a year ago. The group’s equity position continues to improve. The debt-to-equity ratio improved to 1,64 from 1,75, and in June the outstanding corporate bonds were redeemed. This together with the change in fair value of the convertible bonds had a positive effect on the liability section of the balance sheet. IchorCoal CEO Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita said: “Conditions in the commodities sector remained extremely challenging, with a further deterioration in commodity prices across the board. This presented a tougher than forecast operating environment, with an average 8% decline in international thermal coal spot prices over the six months and 18% year-on-year. This presented a considerable challenge to the coal sector as a whole and consequently, a dissapointing first half. “That said, over the reporting period we took major steps forward in the execution of our strategy towards our goal of becoming the leading mid-tier thermal coal producer in South Africa. We delivered a solid performance on both pillars of our strategy, namely: acquisitive and organic growth. On the former, we announced the acquisition of Penumbra coal mine from Continental Coal in May and a few months later, our offer to acquire the shares in Universal Coal that we do not already own. This marks IchorCoal as a meaningful player in the consolidation of the South African junior coal sector. “On the organic front, Mbuyelo Coal’s flagship project – Manungu – produced first coal in June and is well on the way to achieving its ramp-up targets. Vunene made good progress on the refurbishment of the infrastructure to restart underground mining operations, which will underpin production for at least the next 20 years. “We are very well positioned to benefit from any uptick in coal prices as and when it occurs.” Located in Mpumalanga province, the Manungu project has a 460-million tonne resource base and a long-term coal supply agreement with Eskom. The mine will initially supply 1.6-million tonnes per annum to Eskom, ramping up to 3-million tonnes per annum from the fourth year onwards. “Looking ahead, with our production increasing from the Manungu project, the first phase of the Vunene underground refurbishment near completion and Penumbra and NCC coming on line, the second half looks more promosing and we are in an excellent position to achieve our stated objective of producing 15 million tonnes annually by 2017,” said Ms Nyembezi-Heita. Ends
About Ichor Coal N.V. IchorCoal is an international mining company with a focus on thermal coal production in South Africa. Incorporated in the Netherlands, IchorCoal is listed on the German stock exchange. IchorCoal owns and operates its own coal resources as well as holding equity positions in various coal mining entities. Apart from its 29,99% holding in Universal Coal, it also owns 45.2% in Mbuyelo Coal and controls the producing Vunene mine. IchorCoal has attributable mineable resources of approximately 440 millon tonnes of coal on 16 properties. IchorCoal is led by its CEO Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita and COO Andries Engelbrecht who together bring substantial experience in the industrial and commodity sectors. Forward looking statements This news release includes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning estimates of expected mining and associated costs, statements relating to estimates of, and increases in, production, cash flows and values and other statements which are not historical facts. When used in this document, the words such as “could,” “plan,” “estimate”, “expect”, “intend”, “may”, “potential”, “should” and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. Although IchorCoal believes that its expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include the potential that the Company’s projects will experience technological and mechanical problems, that geological conditions may not result in commercial levels of coal production, that changes in product prices can have a material impact and that IchorCoal fails to raise sufficient capital to adequately fund its activities. Contact: 2015-09-30 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP – a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de |
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