Griffin Mining revenue, profits jump in 2023

(Sharecast News) - Griffin Mining reported a substantial increase in revenue in its final results for 2023 on Wednesday, to $146.02m, compared to $94.4m in 2022. The AIM-traded firm said gross profit jumped to $51.84m from $38.25m year-on-year, while earnings before depreciation, interest and tax reached $51.86m, up from $35.22m a year earlier.

Operating profit jumped to $23.84m from $15.63m, and profit before tax rose to $24.49m from $15.27m.

Profit after tax soared to $15.24m, a substantial improvement from $7.7m in 2022, with basic earnings per share standing at 8.03 cents, up from 4.41 cents.

On the operational front, the company achieved record levels of ore mined, hauled, and processed in 2023, reaching the mill's nameplate capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum, leading to record zinc metal in concentrate production.

Ore mined increased 76.6% to 1,505,642 tonnes, all sourced from Zone III at Caijiaying, while ore processed rose by 82.1% to 1,513,977 tonnes.

As a result, zinc metal concentrate production increased 79.1%, while gold in concentrate production rose 68.2%, silver in concentrate production by 40.1%, and lead in concentrate production by 64.5%, all compared to 2022 levels.

Despite a decline in zinc market prices in 2023, smelter treatment charges and transport costs decreased, leading to improved margins.

Gold, silver, and lead prices saw increases throughout the year, with the firm's partner Hebei Hua Ao receiving premium prices on lead and gold in concentrate sales.

Production costs rose 67.7% due to increased ore mining, hauling, and processing, although production costs per tonne of ore processed decreased from $65.80 to $62.60.

Operating expenses, excluding certain charges, rose 4.2% from 2022.

Chinese partners' share of profits from Hebei Hua Ao increased significantly, partly due to force majeure provisions.

Additionally, a share incentive plan incurred a charge of $3.02m in 2023.

Interest receipts on bank deposits saw a notable increase, to $1.4m in 2023 from $0.37m in 2022.

At 1202 BST, Griffin Mining shares were down 0.98% at 151p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.