The New Hope Corporation Ltd (ASX: NHC) share price is rallying on Tuesday.
In morning trade, the ASX 200 mining stock is up 5% to $4.48.
This follows the release of the coal miner's FY 2024 results.
New Hope share price higher on FY 2024 results
- Revenue down 34.6% to $1.8 billion
- Underlying ETBIDA down 50.8% to $859.9 million
- Net profit after tax down 56.2% to $475.9 million
- Fully franked final dividend of 22 cents per share
What happened during the year?
For the 12 months ended 31 July, New Hope achieved production of 9.1Mt of saleable coal. This represents an increase of 26.4% on 7.2Mt a year earlier. This was supported by a strong operational performance at the Bengalla Mine and the successful restart of operations at the New Acland Mine.
However, due to weaker coal prices, revenue was down 34.6% year on year to $1.8 billion.
Free on Rail (FOR) cash costs were higher for a number of reasons. This includes rail cancellations and higher labour, fuel, parts and consumables costs to support newly commissioned mining equipment. Underlying Free on Board (FOB) cash costs excluding royalties were $90.04 per tonne, up from $70.31 per tonne a year earlier.
This ultimately led to the ASX 200 mining stock's underlying EBITDA dropping 50.8% to $859.9 million. Though, it is worth noting that this is still its third largest profit result in its history.
And with its net profit after tax falling 56.2% to $475.9 million, the New Hope board was forced to slash its dividend.
A fully franked final dividend of 22 cents per share was declared, bringing its total dividends to 39 cents per share. This is down 44.3% from 70 cents per share in FY 2023 (inclusive of special dividends).
Management commentary
The ASX 200 mining stock's CEO, Rob Bishop, was pleased with the year. He said:
This year, we've delivered on our organic growth pipeline, with the realisation of productivity benefits from the Bengalla Mine Growth Project and the restart of operations at New Acland Mine resulting in a significant increase in coal production. The combination of a robust thermal coal price environment, disciplined cost control and strong operational performance contributed to the third highest earnings result in the history of our Company.
Looking ahead, we remain focused on the organic growth of our business via the ramp-up of New Acland Mine, sustained increased production at Bengalla, and the development of Malabar's Maxwell Underground Mine, all of which are low-unit cost assets. This growth pipeline offers significant targeted production increases, which will ultimately create additional value to return to our shareholders.
