Anglo Pacific Group PLC (LON: APF, TSX: APY), the London and Toronto listed royalty company, issued the following trading update for the period 1 January 2019 to 23 April 2019. Unless otherwise stated, all unaudited financial information is for the quarter ended 31 March 2019.
Julian Treger, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented:
“It is very pleasing to report a record quarterly contribution from the portfolio, with an 7% increase in the total contribution from our portfolio to £17.5m compared to Q4 2018, which itself was the highest revenue quarter in 2018. Compared to the corresponding quarter in 2018, the contribution was almost £10m higher.
We continue to see meaningful revenue growth for the Group in 2019, even when factoring in the expected impact of the planned longwall changeouts at Kestrel and Narrabri during 2019.
Income was once again driven by Kestrel, where strong sales volumes during the quarter resulted in a 15% increase in revenue. The volumes achieved during the first quarter indicate that the run rate being targeted by the new owners could be achieved.
During the quarter, coking coal and iron ore pricing remained resilient, which resulted in Kestrel and LIORC being the two largest revenue contributors for the Group, whilst we saw thermal coal and vanadium show declines.
Despite a background of economic uncertainty, our portfolio continues to deliver significant growth. With an encouraging start to the year from Kestrel, especially given its ambitions, we remain confident of delivering organic growth during 2019 whilst seeking to make additional quality investments.
Although we have not executed on any acquisitions during the first quarter of the year, we continue to appraise opportunities and maintain a disciplined approach. With a significant war chest, we remain in a strong position to add to our portfolio during the year.”
Highlights
| Q1 2019£m | QOQ % | Q4 2018£m | Q1 2018£m | ||
| Kestrel | 11.8 | 12% | 10.5 | 5.0 | |
| Maracás Menchen | 1.1 | (52%) | 2.3 | 0.8 | |
| Narrabri | 1.4 | 17% | 1.2 | 0.8 | |
| Four Mile | – | – | 0.1 | ||
| Royalty income | 14.3 | 2% | 14.0 | 6.7 | |
| LIORC dividends | 1.7 | 89% | 0.9 | – | |
| Interest – McClean Lake & Jogjakarta | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 | ||
| Royalty related revenue | 16.5 | 7% | 15.4 | 7.3 | |
| EVBC | 0.6 | 20% | 0.5 | 0.5 | |
| Principal repayment – McClean Lake | 0.4 | (20%) | 0.5 | 0.3 | |
| Total portfolio contribution | 17.5 | 7% | 16.4 | 8.1 |
§ Total portfolio contribution of £17.5m, a 7% increase on Q4 2018 (£16.4m) and a 116% increase on Q1 2018 (£8.1m) – a new quarterly record for the Group
§ 20% increase in sales volumes from Kestrel in Q1 2019 (compared to Q4 2018), indicating that the run rate being targeted by the new owners could be achieved
§ LIORC was the second largest source of revenue for the Group at £1.7m (Q4 2018: £0.9m), reflecting the continued strong performance in iron ore prices, high pellet premia being achieved along with the distribution of previously retained cash, and while also implying a high running yield on the £38.5m cost of investment
§ 33% increase in volumes at Narrabri compared to Q4 2018, representing the strongest sales quarter since Q4 2017
§ Revenue from Maracás Menchen was 53% lower than Q4 2018 due to a combination of the planned maintenance shutdown of the plant during the quarter along with the well documented reduction in the vanadium price (down ~30% on the levels achieved in Q4 2018)
§ Another consistent quarter from EVBC and Denison
§ Borrowings repaid in full, with ~US$100m of liquidity available to finance growth
