3rd Aug 2023 14:47
(Alliance News) - Tirupati Graphite PLC on Thursday said it "continued to evolve and expand" in its latest year with increased production and revenue, but reported a widened loss.
The London-based natural flake graphite producer, which has operations in Madagascar and Mozambique, said total production increased 59% to 4,770 metric tonnes in the year ended March 31 from 2,996 the year before.
During the period, Tirupati said it achieved production and its first sale of 97% purity flake graphite, and said it was able to mitigate weather conditions and increase capacity across its projects in Madagascar to 30,000 tonnes per year.
On the other hand, Tirupati's pretax loss widened to GBP2.4 million from GBP2.0 million. Its loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation narrowed to GBP839,042 from GBP1.3 million, and Tirupati's loss per share widened to 2.59 pence from 2.24p.
Revenue increased to GBP2.9 million from GBP1.6 million. However, administrative expenses grew to GBP2.4 million from GBP1.9 million, and the depreciation of its operating assets more than doubled to GBP1.0 million from GBP482,641.
Mining and operating costs increased 62% to GBP1.5 million from GBP935,604.
However, Tirupati said it "believes it has reached the operational stage where as the production ramp up is progressed [we] will achieve profitability at corporate level".
Chair Shishir Poddar commented: "Tirupati Graphite has continued to evolve and expand, helping to address the increasing demand for graphite, one of the key critical minerals in the energy transition...Amidst this wider market demand, value creation remains core to our culture, and we continue to leverage our extensive graphite expertise and key principles to drive sustainable value across our stakeholder base.
Poddar added: "In this period, it is our target to fully optimise the outcomes of the capacities already created and continue to develop deep relationships with markets of this critical mineral."
Tirupati Graphite shares are currently suspended in London. They last traded at 33.00 pence on Tuesday.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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