Listen to our latest Investing Matters Podcast episode 'Uncovering opportunities with investment trusts' with The AIC's Richard Stone here.
London South East prides itself on its community spirit, and in order to keep the chat section problem free, we ask all members to follow these simple rules. In these rules, we refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our". The user of the website is referred to as "you" and "your".
By posting on our share chat boards you are agreeing to the following:
The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. As a user you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. You agree that we have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or board at any time should we see fit. You agree that we have the right to remove any post without notice. You agree that we have the right to suspend your account without notice.
Please note some users may not behave properly and may post content that is misleading, untrue or offensive.
It is not possible for us to fully monitor all content all of the time but where we have actually received notice of any content that is potentially misleading, untrue, offensive, unlawful, infringes third party rights or is potentially in breach of these terms and conditions, then we will review such content, decide whether to remove it from this website and act accordingly.
Premium Members are members that have a premium subscription with London South East. You can subscribe here.
London South East does not endorse such members, and posts should not be construed as advice and represent the opinions of the authors, not those of London South East Ltd, or its affiliates.
• Safety:
o Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (‘LTIFR’) of:
0.05 per 200 000-man hours worked at Tharisa Minerals
0.11 per 200 000-man hours worked at Karo Platinum
• Operations:
o Chrome production up 9.9% at 865.6 kt (2023: 787.9 kt) at an average metallurgical grade chrome price of US$288/t (2023: US$247/t), up 16.9%
o PGM production decreased by 7.7% at 71.1 koz (2023: 77.0 koz) at an average PGM basket price of US$1 344/oz (2023: US$2 216/oz), down 39.3%
• Corporate actions:
o Announced US$5 million share repurchase on 26 March 2024
o Official launch of Redox One at the Africa Energy Indaba
• Financials:
o Revenue increased 10.1% to US$369.1 million (2023: US$335.3 million)
o EBITDA flat at US$79.6 million (2023: US$81.2 million) at an EBITDA margin of 21.6% (2023: 24.2%)
o Profit before tax of US$53.2 million (2023: US$72.4 million)
o Headline earnings per share of US 13.2 cents (2023: US 17.6 cents), a 25.0% decrease
o Net cash flows from operating activities of US$86.2 million (2023: US$97.1 million)
o Net cash position of US$86.3 million
o Interim dividend of US 1.5 cents per share
Phoevos Pouroulis, CEO of Tharisa, commented:
“The fundamentals of our co product model once again showed relevance as we absorbed a nearly 40% decrease in PGM prices, countered by a 16% increase in chrome concentrate prices, maintaining our EBITDA in line with last year’s comparable number, while investing heavily in our future growth. In these challenging commodity markets, we have maintained our capital allocation discipline including returning cash to shareholders through the payment of an interim dividend combined with a share repurchase programme exceeding our stated policy.
Key to the operational success of our modern mine is our safety record.
The open pit economics are continually re-evaluated and, with increasing costs and haul distances for waste rock deposition, the progression to underground mining, in conjunction with open pit mining, is being accelerated. The successful transition to underground mining will also reduce third party ore purchases.
Beyond the mine gate, our energy division has made exciting strides with Redox One testing larger energy storage units, using our own chrome electrolyte while the downstream beneficiation looks to commercialise its pilot scale smelting and refining facilities.
The Karo Platinum Project is a Tier 1 resource and a multi-generational asset, development continues steadily with value engineering, mining and process optimisation running in parallel. The fiscal regime with the Government of Zimbabwe necessary for a Tier 1 project are being finalised, however, this and current market conditions are impacting on the funding workstreams and timeline for delivery of this project.
Tharisa remains a reliable and stable provider of commodities necessary for the planet’s decarbonisation drive. With our multi-generational ore bodies, innovative approach to optimising those resources and downstream beneficiation initiatives, we remain cognisant of our vision for shared value which involves optimising our businesses while providing returns to our stakeholders. Our commitment to this vision is reflected in these results, and we will continue to deliver further value for the long-term.”
https://www.tharisa.com/interim-results.php
Very disappointing that a 25% fall in EPS has lead to a 50% dividend cut breaking the company’s 15%minimum dividend payout policy.
The share buy back appears to be paid for by amending the dividend policy
The policy is an annual policy of 15%, so we still have the second half of the year to pay out minimum of 15% of full year NPAT
I'm with you moneyman. I've been invested for a number of years, primarily for the dividend. Rarely trade any, don't really care about shareprice as long as they are growing. However to cut back on the dividend policy (which IMO is low anyway for a mature business) is very annoying. I'm primarily invested for the dividends, which I had hoped would grow.
Thank you Tharisa -so shareholders will still receive at least 15% of the NPAT as dividend for the year ending 30/09/2024-? -the share buyback is not a substitute for the dividend
The actual dividend payout is 11.36 % of EPS -seems a little unnecessary to make it this low as interim last year was above the minimum 15%
As Michael reitterated on the call, we have an annual dividend policy of 15% of NPAT, pay roughly 40% at interims and yes, the Share Buyback is seperate from the div policy
Just like to say thanks for answering the concerns raised.
As long as the plat price stays above 1000 dollars then the next 6 months should be a lot better than the last and I am looking for a continued increase in the market cap. A div is a nice bonus but it is the increase in share price where you make your money . When Karro starts i'm hoping the price of plat is up to 1200 and stays there. Happy days for everyone.