BC Iron shares rise to record levels

BC Iron’s stock has reached an all-time high, after the iron ore junior reported a strong rise in production and underlying profit despite the challenging price environment.

The company announced today it produced 5 million wet metric tonnes of iron ore from its Nullagine joint venture with Fortescue Metals Group in the 2013 financial year, up 41 per cent on the previous 12 months.

BC said its net profit came in at $48.8 million, down from $50.6 million in FY2012.

Revenue was up 59 per cent to $325.3 million.

The miner will pay a full year dividend of 30 cents per share, up 25 cents from its interim dividend paid in March.

At 11:15AM, WST, BC Iron stocks were up 6.1 per cent, trading at a record-high $4.30.

The company’s profit was affected by a series of impairments totalling $22.6 million, including an exploration write-off at its Bungaroo tenements, foreign exchange losses of $11.4 million, and a $7.7 million hit to the value of its assets that remain up for sale.

Transaction costs associated with the acquisition of an additional 25 per cent interest in the Nullagine project totalled $2.3 million.

“While we continue to monitor the external factors that can impact the business, our primary focus will remain on the areas we can control, namely, productivity and costs,” managing director Morgan Ball said.

“Given the strength of our balance sheet, we are in the fortunate position to assess growth options in a financially disciplined manner and ensure that we only consider opportunities that we feel offer material accretion for our shareholders.”