Bibra Lake-based mining services company Mineral Resources has booked a 17.4 per cent lift in first-half net profit to $27.4 million.
Bibra Lake-based mining services company Mineral Resources has booked a 17.4 per cent lift in first-half net profit to $27.4 million.
The result was on the back of revenue of $109.1 million, a 23.6 per cent fall on the previous corresponding period.
The directors have declared today a fully franked interim dividend for the 2009/10 year of 6.4 cents per share.
The company said improving economic conditions had provided it with a solid financial performance in the first-half and presented a number of strategic growth opportunities to expand its business base going forward.
Export demand was sustained and growing, with improving product volumes towards the end of the half (and continuing) supported by consistent growth in traditional volume based operations.
Pricing for steelmaking materials on Asia markets have generally improved throughout the half although the volatile Australian dollar continues to have an impact. Input costs remain stable with operational sites targeting to increase production output at small incremental cost.
Newly developing sites are planned to operate at lower cost quartiles based on the company's solid operational expertise developed over many years of contract performance. These trends provide a solid underlying business operation to support the group's aggressive growth strategy.
General contracting and infrastructure opportunities remain a key aspect of the growth strategy. Newly invigorated infrastructure and services development activity will provide an improving opportunity base. Contract orders are expected to increase during the upcoming half and labour and cost management will be the critical ongoing management focus.
The board's focus during the half has been to expand the company's resource and capacity base as a prerequisite to a significant capacity expansion. This strategy also involves the further acquisition and development of a highly proficient workforce to manage the additional level of activity.
MRL's financial strength has also been augmented by the injection of equity funds during the half to assist to finance capital expenditure and operational development activities, and the management team considers that the company is well positioned financially to execute the expansive strategy which will bring a number of key operations on stream during the upcoming year.
