Fortress Minerals earnings down 27.3% y-o-y for 3QFY2024

Fortress Minerals OAJ has reported earnings of US$2.2 million ($2.9 million) for the 3QFY2024 ended Nov 30, down 27.3% y-o-y compared to its earnings of US$3.0 million for the same period last year.

For the quarter, earnings per share also dropped to 45 US cents, compared to 59 US cents in 3QFY2023.

The company’s revenue was down 3.4% y-o-y to US$10.9 million in 3QFY2024, while its cost of sales increased by 3.6% y-o-y to US$3.7 million. The decrease in revenue in 3QFY2024 was due to lower volume of iron ore sold, amounting to 116,106 dry metric tonnes (DMT), representing a 11.7% decrease from 3QFY2023. 

However, the revenue decrease for the period was partially offset by an increase in average realised selling price of US$93.45/DMT compared to US$85.81/DMT in 3QFY2023.

Still, Fortress Minerals’ gross profit fell US$0.5 million or 6.7% y-o-y to US$7.2 million in 3QFY2024, with its gross profit margin decreasing by 2.3 percentage points to 65.9% for the same period.

As at Nov 30, the company’s cash and cash equivalents stood at US$5.0 million.

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Ivan Chee, executive director and CEO, says Fortress Mineral remains well-positioned to deliver on its growth strategies to provide enhanced long-term value to shareholders. “Iron ore demand remains robust, especially from the region and for our high-grade products. This is supported by the recent offtake agreements we entered into with a local steel mill.”

“To continue to meet this demand, we're actively expanding our production at the CASB mine and advancing exploration in East Malaysia to diversify our revenue streams,” he adds.

Shares in Fortress Minerals closed unchanged at 29 cents on Jan 11.