3rd Jun 2014 07:44
LONDON (Alliance News) - Iofina PLC Tuesday said it exceeded its iodine production target for May, achieving a profitable period for the company following the implementation of operational improvements and cost controls.
Iofina, which produces iodine from the brine that results from fracking, said it produced 40.5 metric tonnes of crystallised iodine during the month, compared with 21.8 metric tonnes the previous month, and maintained considerable cost controls, which helped the company be profitable during the period in terms of earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation and net profit.
The news comes after Iofina announced in May that despite improved production at its IO#1 plant during April, the plant was temporarily closed during the period due to "necessary and minor" upgrades.
The company said on Tuesday the IO#1 plant achieved record monthly production in May and is continuing to run at record capacity, with little to no downtime, and in June it will be subject to a test which could eliminate a specific chemical in processing, resulting in additional savings of around USD4,000 per day.
Iofina added that its IO#2 and IO#3 plants also achieved record production, and the company sees further optimisation potential for its IO#2 site in the coming months.
However, the company said that despite its IO#4 plant achieving record production during the month, it did not meet the company's targets due to debris having to be removed from its processing system. Iofina said these issues were addressed, and its performance is on track to meet expected June 2014 production.
Iofina said its IO#5 plant, which has been idle as it awaits connection to the power grid, is expected to receive hard power and once wired onto the power grid will be restarted.
The company also added that construction continues to progress on its IO#6 plant and its completion is expected near the end of June, with improvements which have been made at other plants being integrated into the construction process at the new plant. The site is expected to be operational by the end of the second quarter.
Iofina shares were up 6.4% to 62.75 pence, putting it in the top three AIM ALL-Share risers during early trading in Tuesday.
By Tom McIvor; [email protected]; @TomMcIvor1
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