* HALF YEARLY FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED
* EARNINGS PER SHARE INCREASE BY 27%
"The first half of the year delivered another strong safety performance across all our operations. We continue to operate fatality free, and both leading and lagging indicators of safety are at a level ahead of last year.
"Our financial metrics over the period were also strong; revenue was 14.3% higher due to higher copper, gold and molybdenum sales volumes and higher realised by-product prices, partially offset by a 3.4% decline in copper prices.
"We are focused on cost control through our Cost and Competitiveness Programme, which so far this year has delivered
"Looking ahead to the second half of the year, we expect the desalination plant will continue to ramp-up to its design capacity, which will allow increased throughput at Los Pelambres, supporting the delivery of our production and cost guidance.
"Copper is the metal of electrification and therefore an integral part of the energy transition. We believe the long-term fundamentals for copper are very strong as demand is forecast to continue to grow over the coming years, and as incremental supply remains challenged. Our focus remains on growing production through our pipeline of projects safely and competitively, which will generate value for all our stakeholders.
"Consistent with our practice of paying 35% of interim net earnings as a dividend, the Board has declared an interim dividend of
* Revenue for the first half of 2023 was
* EBITDA(1) was
* EBITDA margin(2) was 46.1%, compared with 49.0% in H1 2022.
* The Cost and Competitiveness Programme generated savings and productivity improvements of
* Profit before tax was
* Continuing strong balance sheet with a net debt to EBITDA ratio at the end of the period of 0.27 times. The Company's cash, cash equivalents and liquid investments balance as at
* Cash flow from operations was
* Capital expenditure of
* Earnings per share of
* Interim dividend of
Production and cost performance (as previously announced on
* Copper production in H1 2023 of 295,500 tonnes, 10.0% higher year-on-year (H1 2022: 268,600 tonnes), principally reflecting a 23.9% increase in throughput at Los Pelambres.
* Cash costs before by-product credits in H1 2023 were
* Net cash costs were
2023 Guidance (as previously announced)
* Guidance has been updated to 640-670,000 tonnes (previously 670-710,000 tonnes), because of the rescheduling of completion activities at the desalination plant and concentrator expansion at Los Pelambres and the reduced availability of water in H1 2023. The expectation is that output will increase quarter-on-quarter in H2 2023 as both projects near completion of commissioning.
* The impact of the updated production guidance is partly offset by strong cost control across the Company's operations with full year cash costs before by-product credits now expected to be
* Guidance for cash costs after by-products remains unchanged at
* Capital expenditure guidance is also unchanged at
* The Group has now achieved its full year Cost and Competitiveness Programme savings and productivity improvement target of at least
Growth projects (as previously announced)
* The desalination plant for Los Pelambres is nearing the end of its commissioning phase. The plant achieved an average production rate of 160 litres per second of desalinated water in
* At the concentrator expansion project at Los Pelambres, pre-operational testing work started during Q2 2023, alongside the commissioning of some ancillary sections of the project and the connection of the main facilities to the national grid. Commissioning is expected to be completed in H2 2023.
* An updated study into the development of the Centinela Second Concentrator project is expected to be submitted to the
* The expansion at Centinela would increase production by an average of 170,000 tonnes per annum of copper equivalent, taking advantage of the large resource base in the Centinela district. This expansion is expected to move Centinela into the first quartile of the net of by-products cost curve.
Sustainability
* There were no fatalities in H1 2023 (FY 2022: zero), and safety indicators remain strong, with a year-to-date lost time injury frequency rate ("LTIFR") of 0.58 (FY 2022: 0.84).
* As previously reported, the Company (as well as other named defendants) submitted a response contradicting the allegations made by the Consejo de Defensa del Estado ("CDE"), an independent governmental agency that represents the interests of the Chilean state, who previously filed a claim against Minera Escondida, Albemarle and Zaldívar, alleging that their extraction of water from the Monturaqui-Negrillar-Tilopozo aquifer over the years has impacted the underground water level. The litigation remains outstanding as well as conversations among the parties regarding a potential settlement.
* Currently, Zaldívar is permitted to extract water and mine until 2025 and 2024 respectively. To ensure the continuity of this operation, in
* With the continuing drought in central
Legislative
* In
* The process to approve a new constitution in
Other
* As previously announced, following confirmation by the Australian Tax Office that the proceeds from the sale of the Group's interest in Reko Diq (
* On
* The Company also released its second Social Value Report in
Download Results (PDF)
Download Presentation (PDF)
View Webcast
A recording and copy of the 2023 Half Year Results presentation is available for download from the Company's website www.antofagasta.co.uk.
There will be a Q&A video conference call at
Investors -
Telephone +44 20 7808 0988
Media -
Telephone +44 20 7404 5959
Media -
Telephone +56 2 2798 7000 Download PDF (1MB)
.
(C) 2023 M2 COMMUNICATIONS, source