Financial results for period to 31 December 2015

25 April 2016

Sirius Minerals Plc

Financial results for period to 31 December 2015

Sirius Minerals Plc (AIM: SXX, OTCQX: SRUXY) ("Sirius" or the "Company") announces the results for Sirius and its subsidiaries ("the Group") for the period ended 31 December 2015.

The results cover the nine-month period from 31 March 2015 to 31 December 2015, following the Group's change of accounting reference date, as announced on 10 March 2016.

Key highlights

· Secured planning approvals from various local planning authorities for the key infrastructure needed to commence construction of the Company's North Yorkshire polyhalite project ("the Project").

· Expiration of potential judicial review periods for all key planning approvals.

· Major US-based Fortune 500 agri-business offtake partner tripling its offtake supply agreement to 1.5 million tonnes per annum and extending it from five to seven years.

· Sales agreement with Huaken International in China to purchase POLY4 as a soil conditioner and reaching 500,000 tonnes of supply in year seven of the contract.

· Appointment of two new non-executive directors - Noel Harwerth and Jane Lodge.

· Appointment of J.P. Morgan Cazenove as joint broker and Liberum Capital as nominated advisor.

· Major progress towards completion of the Project's definitive feasibility study ("DFS").

· Raised £23.3 million from the exercise of warrants, issued as part of a 2014 fundraising.

Post-balance sheet events

· In March 2016, the Company announced the material findings of its Project DFS.

Financials

· Cash at 31 December 2015 was £29.1 million (for the year ended 31 March 2015: £26.6 million).

· During the nine-month period ended 31 December 2015 the Group's loss after tax was £7.0 million (for the year ended 31 March 2015: £9.6 million).

Annual report and accounts

The annual report and accounts have now been published on the Company's website: www.siriusminerals.com. The annual report and accounts will also be posted to shareholders shortly.

The Company's annual general meeting will be held at 1pm on Friday 24 June 2016 at the Royal York Hotel, Station Road, York, YO24 1AA. The Notice of Meeting will be issued to shareholders shortly.

For further information, please contact:

About Sirius Minerals Plc

Sirius Minerals is the fertilizer development company focused on the development of its polyhalite project in North Yorkshire, the United Kingdom. It has the world's largest and highest grade deposit of polyhalite, a multi-nutrient form of potash containing potassium, sulphur, magnesium and calcium. Incorporated in 2003, Sirius Minerals's shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market. Its shares are also traded in the United States on the OTCQX through a sponsored ADR facility. Further information on the Company can be found at: www.siriusminerals.com.

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

Dear Shareholders,

It is a relatively short period since we published our interim results in December 2015 and this has been brought about by the Group opting to change its financial year end to December rather than March. This report therefore covers the financial period from 1 April 2015 to 31 December 2015. The major reason for this change is that we will now be in line with most main market businesses. Additionally this change will provide our team with more flexibility, especially around fundraising windows, for the next financing stage of our North Yorkshire polyhalite project ("the Project").

Highlights within this period included key planning approvals, expiration of potential judicial review periods without any objections being tabled, additional sales offtake commitments, the appointment of two new non-executive directors, the strengthening of our financial adviser teams, major progress towards completion of our definitive feasibility study (DFS) and the raising of £23.3 million from the exercise of warrants.

We were naturally delighted to secure planning approvals for the key infrastructure needed to commence construction including approvals for the mine, mineral transport system and the materials handling facility from various local planning authorities. These positive decisions subsequently passed through their judicial review windows unchallenged and are now fully implementable. The support from so many different stakeholders throughout the planning process has been very much welcomed by everyone associated with the Company.

Another key achievement during the period has been Sirius Minerals's sales progress, with further offtake agreements secured for our POLY4 product. This includes our major US-based Fortune 500 agri-business offtake partner tripling its supply agreement with us to 1.5 million tonnes per annum and extending it from five to seven years. We also secured a sales agreement with Huaken International (Huaken) in China. This deal sees polyhalite supplied on an incremental basis, reaching 500,000 tonnes in year seven of the contract.

Interestingly, in a first for us, Huaken is purchasing our multi-nutrient polyhalite product to use as a soil conditioner. Huaken is also one of a restricted list of companies in China with the right to import potassium fertilizer. Research undertaken by the Company has shown the benefits of adding polyhalite to highly acidic soils (which is of particular relevance to large areas of China). We have made tremendous progress with sales agreements over the past few years and we expect this to both continue and intensify as we progress through construction to first production.

The market view for mining companies, commodities and both potash and fertilizer companies generally has been poor during the period. Major mining firms and potash (muriate of potash) producers alike have suffered in terms of their valuations. However, this has not had an effect on Sirius Minerals's progress towards its goals. Whilst general capital market sentiment has been bearish during this time, it is my belief that there are significant opportunities for companies with world-class development assets such as our Project.

Our intention always has been to develop our polyhalite project with a long life, low operating cost and high-quality resource base, meaning that there is protection (and still good returns) during downturns in the cycle and very strong returns to be made in the upturns. The material findings of our definitive feasibility study, published after the balance sheet period in March 2016, only serves to demonstrate this point.

On governance issues I have a number of matters to report for the period. In July 2015 we welcomed two new non-executive directors to the Board - Noel Harwerth and Jane Lodge. These appointments gave the Company a greater percentage of independent directors on the Board further strengthening corporate governance. Once again I would like to thank outgoing board members, Peter Woods and Chris Catlow, who both made valuable contributions during the early years of the Company's development.

We also made changes to our advisory team, with existing broker Liberum Capital taking on our nominated advisor (Nomad) role and the appointment of J.P. Morgan Cazenove (JPM) as joint broker.

On financing, during the period the Company was able to secure further funds totalling £23.3 million from the exercise of warrants which were originally issued early in 2014. These funds have been important to support our progress towards the completion of the DFS and planning approvals.

During the nine-month period ended 31 December 2015 the Group made a consolidated loss of £7.0 million compared to a loss of £9.6 million for the year ended 31 March 2015. Cash resources at the end of December 2015 were £29.1 million compared to £26.6 million at the end of March 2015.

The Group's net assets at 31 December 2015 were £165.2 million compared to £146.6 million at 31 March 2015.

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared under the going concern assumption. However, the directors recognise that a material uncertainty remains around financing for the Project.

The principal risks and uncertainties facing the Group include exploration and development, reserves and resources estimates, mineral title risk, commodity price risk, liquidity risk, currency risk, permitting, community relations and competitor risk, product risk and operational risks including the development risk assessed in the DFS.

The Company's Board, management and finance team continue to be focussed on both the efficient management of our existing funds and the ongoing (and extensive) work to secure financing for the construction of our Project. We remain focussed on a range of funding options and continue to believe that the overall funding requirement can be delivered through a number of mechanisms, with debt funding likely to make up as much of the overall requirement as possible.

Finally, another change as result of our switch to a December year-end is that our annual general meeting will now be held in June, in contrast to the traditional September date. I hope to see many of our loyal shareholders in York again this year.

Kind regards

Russell Scrimshaw

Chairman

Total comprehensive loss shown above is fully attributable to equity shareholders of the parent in both years.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

For the nine-month period ended 31 December 2015

On 8 April 2015 the Company issued 847,381 new ordinary shares under the Company's long-term incentive plan, of which 285,714 new ordinary shares of 0.25p each were issued to CN Fraser, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Company.

On 9 April 2015 the Company received notices of exercise in respect of convertible securities previously issued on 23 January 2014 at conversion prices of 7.2p and 7.3p per share, of which 9,088,662 shares were issued.

On 10 April 2015 the Company received notices of exercise in respect of convertible securities previously issued on 23 January 2014 at conversion prices of 7.3p and 7.4p per share, of which 8,135,877 shares were issued.

On 9 July 2015 the Company issued 1,250,000 new ordinary shares of 0.25p each at a price of 4.5p per share and 25,000 new ordinary shares of 0.25p per share at price of 19.5p per share, realising £61,125 following the exercise of share options.

On 30 September 2015, the Company was notified that EN Harwerth purchased 6,296 of the Company's 0.25p ordinary shares

On 30 October 2015, the warrants issued to investors on 14 March 2014 had lapsed. Prior to this lapse date, a total of 129,377,517 shares had been issued during the period at 18p per share realising £23,287,953.

The financial information set out in this announcement does not comprise the Group's statutory accounts for the nine-month period ended 31 December 2015 or the year ended 31 March 2015.

The comparative financial information has been extracted from the statutory accounts of the Group for the year ended 31 March 2015. The auditors reported on those accounts; their report was unqualified and did not contain a statement under either Section 498 (2) or Section 498 (3) of the Companies Act 2006 but did include references to material uncertainties surrounding the Directors application of the Going Concern assumption. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 March 2015 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies.

The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2015 have been finalised on the basis of the financial information presented by the Directors in this preliminary announcement and will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies following the Company's annual general meeting.

ENDS