Even a global pandemic couldn’t halt the skyrocketing palladium and rhodium price, which saw Tharisa’s (THS) earnings for the first five months make up for the shutdown in operations in March. The miner’s basket price – which covers its platinum, palladium and rhodium products all rolled up together – climbed by almost 60 per cent in the six months to 31 March, compared with the year before, to $1,612 (£1,320) per ounce (oz).
But big investment in reshaping the open pit at its Tharisa mine, and spending $20m on its mine fleet, kept a lid on cash flows – cash from operations dipped 8 per cent to $41m.
The run of spending is slowing after a year of mine renewal. Capital expenditure for the rest of 2020 is guided to be $21.9m, down from $47.7m in the first half, which should boost free cash flow in the back end of the year.
Chrome prices remain a drag on earnings, however, with a 15 per cent drop in the concentrate price to $138 per tonne (t) in the first half. The company said prices had already hit $155/t this week because of improving demand from the Chinese stainless steel market and destocking at ports in the country. Chrome provided 40 per cent of Tharisa’s revenue in the first half.
| THARISA (THS) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 59p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 157m | |
| TOUCH: | 57-59p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 122p | LOW: 32p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.3% | PE RATIO: | 18 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 115¢ | NET DEBT: | 10% | |
| Half-year to 31 March | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
| 2019 | 167 | 10.2 | 3.60 | 0.50 |
| 2020 | 195 | 17.5 | 3.60 | nil |
| % change | +17 | +72 | - | - |
| Ex-div: | na | |||
| Payment: | na | |||
| £1=$1.22 | ||||
