28th Aug 2018 11:44
LONDON (Alliance News) - Base Resources Ltd on Tuesday said price increases and consistent production led to a more than doubling of it annual profit.
In its financial year ended June 30 the mineral sands producer posted a pretax profit jump to USD43.4 million from USD21.7 million the year before.
Revenue climbed 22% to USD198.8 million from USD162.4 million as the average price improved across all of its products. Zircon prices, in particular, were up 46% year-on-year with ilmenite up 28% and rutile ahead by 17%.
Overall production was consistent year-to-year. Rutile production increased a slight 1.2% to 91,672 tonnes, though zircon production climbed a 8.6% to 37,157.
However, ilmenite production dropped to 464,988 tonnes from 467,359 tonnes.
"Consistent production and strong average price improvement across all products contributed to record financial results for the company and has allowed significant debt reduction and established a strong platform from which to grow the business," said Managing Director Tim Carstens.
During the year, Base Resources acquired the Madagascan Toliara Sands project and intends to complete a pre-feasibility study for Toliara in its next financial year with an investment decision to be made by late 2019.
"The well-timed acquisition of the Toliara Sands project in Madagascar has given Base Resources an outstanding growth path in the development of another world-class mineral sands project with a long production life," said Carstens.
The company also intends to extend the life of its Kwale mine in Kenya and said results from the exploratory drilling program at Kwale have been encouraging.
Shares in Base Resources were up 2.0% at 15.30 pence on Tuesday.
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