LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Jubilee Metals reported a rise in group revenue to £63.27m in its first-half on Thursday, from £53.44m year-on-year, as its chrome output increased substantially.
The AIM-traded firm said its adjusted EBITDA, however, halved to £14.91m for the six months ended 31 December, from £29.33m m a year earlier.

Its adjusted EBITDA margin narrowed significantly to 24%, from 55% in the first half of the 2021 financial year.

Jubilee said the increase in group revenue was primarily the result of a sharp increase in its chrome production output, which is subject to a fixed contracted earnings margin and acted as a "feeder" to its platinum group metals (PGM) operations.

Chrome revenue contributed to 48% of total group revenue for the first half, compared to 22% for the comparable period.

The company said the increased revenue had the impact of reducing the overall group earnings margin, due to the fixed margin contract.

It said the reduction in group attributable earnings was mainly the result of planned operational downtime at the Inyoni PGM plant, to allow for the construction and recommissioning of the new integrated facility.

That resulted in the facility being available at 100% of its operating capacity for just 41% of the period.

Jubilee's board said a further contributor to lower earnings was the lower average PGM basket price realised per ounce soldm which was down 35% over the period, although it showed a "strong recovery" at the end of the first half, which was sustained post-period end.

Total PGM ounces sold included the sale, in part, of the PGM in-process stock released through the stoppage of the Inyoni facility.

The increase in the PGM unit cost per ounce to $822 was said to have been driven by a transport cost component of $262 per ounce incurred for ounces transported from the Eastern Limb Region.

"The first half of the financial year saw the group ramp-up our investment into both our South African and Zambian operations," said chief executive officer Leon Coetzer.

"With our global metals processing strategy in mind, and with a strong balance sheet position, we are confident that any future bank and structured funding can be secured on substantially better terms to advance our Zambian copper strategy and growth."

Coetzer described the period as "one of the most significant to-date" for Jubilee, adding that with the newly-constructed and commissioned fully-integrated Inyoni Facility now operational, the company had a "tremendous platform" for future growth.

"The recent conversion to equity of all historical debt is another reinforcement of the success of our strategy in Zambia too, and we are excited for our processing facilities there to come on line in the coming weeks and to continue the roll out of our global metals processing strategy over the year ahead."

At 1213 GMT, shares in Jubilee Metals Group were down 1.64% at 14.36p.

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