Pilbara Minerals’ (ASX:PLS,OTC Pink:PILBF), alongside fellow mining companies, has released its financial year 2024 to 2025 report.
For the lithium producer, the highlight was its record spodumene production, which it regards as a reflection of maintaining its “strong operational performance.” According to the presentation, the company’s production reached 755 kilo tonnes of concentrate, representing a four percent increase from its previous record.
“With the P680 and P1000 expansions now complete, and our ore sorting technology fully integrated, we’ve established a leading processing platform,” commented Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Dale Henderson.
The production increase is attributed to the P680 and P1000 projects, with the company underlining that this all happened amidst the current lithium downturn.
Sales, on the other hand, saw a 7 percent uptick year-over-year with a total of 760.1 kilo tonnes.
Profit-wise, Pilbara Minerals’ annual revenue was recorded at AU$769 million, falling almost 39 percent short of last year’s AU$1.254 billion record.
The company’s underlying EBITDA also saw a significant decrease this year, with AU$97 million, compared to AU$574 million last year.
After tax, Pilbara Minerals’ underlying net loss totals AU$88 million.
Several transactions by the company also made headlines within the previous months, including its AU$560 million acquisition of Latin Resources approved in January.
The acquisition of Latin Resources includes ownership of its assets, including its flagship Salinas lithium project in Minas Gerais’ Bananal Valley area, 10 kilometres outside the town of Salinas.
Salinas has been renamed Colina, and an updated mineral resource was released on August 25. The project is now at 77.7 million tonnes at 1.24 percent lithium oxide, containing 948,000 tonnes of lithium oxide, with both its Colina and Fog Block deposits included.
In June, the company also published an updated resource for its flagship Pilgangoora operation. It showed a 10 percent increase and is now at 5.7 million tonnes lithium oxide at an increased grade of 1.28 percent lithium oxide.
“Despite the softer pricing environment, our balance sheet remains robust,” commented Managing Director and CEO Dale Henderson in Pilbara Minerals’ full year results. “The long-term fundamentals for lithium remain intact. Current prices are not sufficient to incentivise new supply, which points to potential tightness ahead.”
“While market volatility may persist in the near term, our confidence is anchored in what we control – disciplined execution, operational excellence and strategic agility,” he added, key points which he discussed in his Fastmarkets presentation last June.
Pilbara Minerals’ year ended with approximately AU$1 billion in cash and AU$1.6 billion in total liquidity.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
