Southern Alliance Mining has reported a net loss of RM0.8 million ($233,155.76) for the 2HFY2023 ended July 31, which is narrower than the net loss of RM7.0 million for the 1HFY2023 and narrower than the net loss of RM3.1 million in the 2HFY2022.
The lower net loss on a h-o-h basis was attributed to the higher revenue and gross profit instead of a gross loss in the 2HFY2023.
For the FY2023, the group reported a loss of RM7.8 million, down from its earnings of RM16.3 million in the FY2022. This was said to be due to the intense overburden removal activities, which stood in line with the group’s mining schedule.
Gross revenue for the 2HFY2023 fell by 10.3% y-o-y but rose by 37.8% h-o-h to RM71.9 million.
Gross profit for the period stood at RM2.0 million, up from the loss of RM5.5 million in the 2HFY2022 and up from the loss of RM2.8 million in the 1HFY2023.
For the 2HFY2023, the group also made a profit before tax of RM541,000, compared to the RM5.9 million loss in the year before and the RM10.2 million loss in the 1HFY2023.
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Gross revenue for the FY2023 fell by 30.6% y-o-y to RM124.1 million mainly due to the lower production of iron ore concentrate from the intense overburden removal activities and the transition from open pit mining to underground mining. Iron ore concentrate also saw a lower average selling price (ASP) during the period.
For FY2023, the group saw a gross loss of RM833,000, down from a gross profit of RM28.0 million as the lower revenue outweighed the decrease in cost of sales. During the year, the group’s gross profit margin (GPM) fell to -0.7% from 15.7% in FY2022.
Loss per share stood at 1.59 sen for the year.
As at July 31, cash and cash equivalents stood at RM145.8 million.
No dividends were declared for the period, compared to the final dividend of 0.22 cents per share that was declared at the end of the FY2022.
In its Sept 26 press release, the group said that its dedicated exploration activities have resulted in a “significant increase in iron ore resources along with a promising indication of mineralization at the Tenggaroh gold prospect”.
In FY2023, the group collected 358 samples from the 31 trenches excavated and found that over 50% of the samples “s marked the presence of significant gold mineralization” in one of its lots.
“These positive developments are representative of early signs of success of the group’s planned drilling programme. In line with its expansion strategy, the group will look to add drilling machinery and additional manpower in the project area to support the growth of the Tenggaroh prospect,” says the group via its release.
At the group’s Chaah Mine, the group says it is confident of the mine’s prospects after having extracted around 80,000 tonnes of ore during the development stage at the mine’s northern extension zone.
“Going forward, [the group] intends to convert the Southern extension open pit mining zone to underground mining and is in the midst of evaluating the mine design,” says the group in its release.
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“The group’s drilling and exploration work are rendering expected results. We are building a sustainable mining plan for our Chaah Mine to not only focus on increasing production reliability but also reducing our carbon footprint as we extract the extensive iron ore deposits. Furthermore, we’ve seen exciting developments at the Tenggaroh prospect as we have narrowed down the mineralisation target zones and aim to begin drilling in 2024,” says Dato’ Sri Pek Kok Sam, the group’s managing director.
“We are monitoring global economic developments and their effect on iron ore and gold prices in order to capitalise on market opportunities in the future. We will continue to invest in our expansion and diversification strategy and focus on establishing sustainable revenue streams in order to unlock greater value for our shareholders moving forward,” he adds.
As at 11.38am, shares in Southern Alliance Mining QNS are trading flat at 69 cents.
