Fortress Minerals has reported earnings of US$2.9 million ($3.9 million) for the 3QFY2023 ended Nov 30, 2022. The quarter’s earnings are 3.6% higher than the earnings of US$2.8 million in the corresponding period the year before.
3QFY2023 revenue rose by 1.8% y-o-y to US$11.3 million due to the higher volume of iron ore sold. The growth was also due to the commencement of production at the Cermat Aman (CASB) mine in July 2022, which raised production and sales volume.
Sales volume for the 3QFY2023 rose by 4.3% y-o-y to 131,539 DMT.
The increase in revenue was partly offset by a 1.9% y-o-y decline in the average realised selling price to US$85.81/dry metric tonne (DMT) for the 3QFY2023, as the benchmark IODEX CFR North China of Platts Daily Iron Ore Assessments price indices moderated from the corresponding period last year.
Gross profit for the period, however, fell by 7.0% y-o-y to US$7.7 million, as cost of sales went up by 27.7% y-o-y to US$3.6 million. The higher cost of sales stood in tandem with the higher sales volume and inflation of certain production costs. Gross profit margin fell by 0.6 percentage points to 68.2% due to the higher cost of sales.
For the 9MFY2023, earnings fell by 9.9% y-o-y to US$12.0 million.
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Revenue increased by 8.5% y-o-y to US$41.4 million due to the higher volume of iron ore sold. However, as cost of sales increased by 52.1% y-o-y to US$12.2 million, gross profit for the 9MFY2022 fell by 3.2% y-o-y to US$29.1 million.
The group’s gross profit margin fell by 8.5 percentage points y-o-y to 70.4% in the 9MFY2023.
As at Nov 30, 2022, the group’s net asset value (NAV) per share stood at 12.5 US cents.
Cash and cash equivalents for the period stood at US$7.0 million.
No dividend has been declared for the period.
In its outlook statement, the group notes that demand for its iron ore concentrate from regional steel mills remains strong. The increased focus on high grade magnetite iron ore also continues to underpin demand, which is supported by efforts to decarbonise the global iron ore and steel industry.
“Our resilient performance continues to be driven by the healthy local demand from regional steel mills. This also underscores the deep relationships we have formed with our long-term customers,” says Dato’ Sri Ivan Chee, executive director and CEO of Fortress Minerals.
“We have achieved production at the CASB mine this year, and we will continue to optimise the plant and ramp up production. This will continue to position us favourably to capture growth as the region moves towards endemicity and normalisation of economic activity,” he adds. “We remain focused on operational excellence and maintaining safe and smooth operations at our assets as we maximise long-term value for our shareholders.”
Shares in Fortress Minerals closed 2.5 cents lower or 7.25% down at 32 cents on Jan 11.
