Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG) shares are on the move on Thursday morning.
At the time of writing, the iron ore giant's shares are up 5% to $19.18.
This follows the release of the miner's fourth quarter update before the market open.
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Fortescue shares jump on update
It was another record-breaking quarter for the miner and investors appear to have been impressed.
For the three months ended 30 June, Fortescue reported record total iron ore shipments of 55.2 million tonnes (Mt). This took its full year shipments to a record of 198.4Mt in FY 2025, which was a 4% increase on FY 2024's numbers.
Supporting this growth was the new Iron Bridge operation, which reported shipments of 2.4Mt in the quarter and 7.1Mt in FY 2025.
Another positive was that Fortescue's costs were well controlled during the quarter. It reported Hematite C1 cost of US$16.29 per wet metric tonne (wmt) for the fourth quarter. This brought its full year costs to US$17.99 per wmt in FY 2025, representing a 1% reduction from FY 2024.
Management notes that this means the company achieved its first annual decline in C1 costs since FY 2020.
In respect to revenue, Fortescue's Hematite average revenue was US$82 per dry metric tonne (dmt) for the quarter. This means it achieved 84% of the average Platts 62% CFR Index. For the full year, its average revenue was US$85 per dmt in FY 2025.
This was supported by Iron Bridge Concentrate revenue of US$108 per dmt for the quarter, which was 100% of the average Platts 65% CFR Index and 111% of the average Platts 62% CFR Index.
This ultimately led to the mining giant generating strong cash flow, which boosted its cash balance to US$4.3 billion. This is after spending US$3.9 billion on capital expenditure in FY 2025.
Commenting on the company's performance, Fortescue Metals and Operations Chief Executive Officer, Dino Otranto said:
Fortescue's performance this year has been exceptional. We delivered record quarterly shipments of 55.2 million tonnes, contributing to a record full year total of 198.4 million tonnes. We met all aspects of our market guidance and cemented our position as the industry's lowest cost producer, with our annual C1 cost declining for the first time since FY20. This result is credit to the relentless focus of our teams on safety, efficiency and operational excellence.
Guidance
Looking ahead, Fortescue is potentially guiding to another record year in FY 2026.
Its guidance is for total shipments of 195Mt to 205Mt, including 10Mt to 12Mt from Iron Bridge, and a C1 cost for Hematite of US$17.50 per wmt to US$18.50 per wmt.
