By Jason Scott and Rebecca Keenan
Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Iluka Resources Ltd., the world’s biggest zircon producer, swung to a first-half loss after taking one-time charges for writing down the value of two deposits in Australia and closing unprofitable mines.
The net loss was A$55.8 million ($46.1 million), or 14.2 cents a share, in the six months to June 30, from A$15.6 million, or 5 cents a share, the year before, Perth-based Iluka said today in a statement. Sales fell 57 percent to A$182.3 million.
The global financial crisis forced Iluka to idle half its production in Western Australia and cut its workforce there by a third. The company had a A$78.9 million loss from continuing operations.
“It remains difficult to predict the path of the recovery or the timing for the restoration of more ‘normal’ underlying demand trends,” Managing Director David Robb said in a separate statement. He cut Iluka’s full-year zircon sales forecast as much as a third to between 200,000 and 250,000 metric tons.
Shares of Iluka have declined 28 percent this year compared with an 18 percent gain on the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jason Scott in Perth at Jscott14@bloomberg.netRebecca Keenan in Melbourne at rkeenan5@bloomberg.net
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