IGO has upped its profits to $549 million for the 2020-21 financial year following the company’s divestment of its Tropicana gold mine interest and successful capital raising.
The company has been headstrong on restructuring its business to focus on clean energy, which led to the formation of a lithium joint venture with Tianqi Lithium Corporation for $1.85 billion in July.
The company divested its 30 per cent interest in Tropicana, which is located in Western Australia, to Regis Resources for an after-tax profit of $384.8 million.
IGO has also kept its output at the Nova nickel operation in Western Australia above guidance, producing 29,000 tonnes of nickel at $1.85 per pound in the fiscal year, further assisting its profits.
This has resulted in record revenue of $919 million with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $475 million.
The company’s dividend reached $0.10 per share as part of its revised shareholder returns policy.
IGO’s $549 million profit marked a 254 per cent improvement over the 2019-20 financial year.
According to IGO managing director Peter Bradford, the 2021 financial year has positioned the company as a critical minerals miner.
“(The 2020-21 financial year) was a highly successful and transformational year for IGO, with the continued delivery of strong operating and financial performance, while also delivering two transactions to transform IGO into a business 100 per cent focused on metals critical for enabling clean energy,” Bradford said.
“We delivered record outcomes across all key financial metrics in (the 2020-21) financial year, which was attributable to continued outstanding performance at Nova and continued delivery from Tropicana through to the divestment of our interest to Regis in May 2021.”
IGO completed $749 million of capital raising in the 2020-21 financial year.
“Going forward we remain committed to further growth to deliver a diversified portfolio of clean energy metal products, and to do this with a combination of exploration and disciplined mergers and acquisitions,” Bradford said.