A record 97.1 million tonnes (Mt) of iron ore being shipped during the first half of the 2024–25 financial year (H1 FY25) has led to Fortescue bringing in $2.5 billion in net profit after tax.
Fortescue’s $US7.6 billion ($11.9 billion) in revenue in H1 FY25 was a 20 per cent decrease compared to the prior corresponding period. The company said this was due to the decrease in the Hematite average revenue which stood at $US85 per dry metric tonne.
Despite this, Fortescue declared a fully franked interim dividend of $0.50 per share, $US3.6 billion in underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) and $US2.4 billion in net cash flow from operating activities for the six months ending December 31, 2024.
Fortescue’s FY25 shipments guidance, direct cost and capital expenditure remains unchanged at 190–200Mt, including 5–9Mt for Iron Bridge in Western Australia.
The company mined 119.1Mt and processed 99.1Mt during H1 FY25, a 13 per cent and three per cent increase from H1 FY24 respectively.
“It’s been an outstanding operational performance for the first half of FY25 with the team achieving our highest ever half year shipments while keeping costs low,” Fortescue chief executive officer Dino Otranto said.
“Through the collective effort of the entire team, we continue to record measurable improvements across our key safety indicators, including a 44 per cent improvement in TRIFR (total recorded injury frequency rate) over the 12-month period.”
Decarbonisation was a major highlight for Fortescue during H1 FY25, with the iron ore giant teaming up with Liebherr to create zero emissions mining equipment and locking in a $US400 million contract with XCMG to acquire more than 100 pieces of zero-emissions heavy mobile equipment.
“Our award-winning Billion Opportunities program also went from strength to strength, with $6.5 billion in contracts awarded to First Nations businesses since 2011,” Otranto said.
Fortescue is currently going through the compulsory acquisition process to takeover Red Hawk Mining, which owns the Blacksmith iron ore project 30km west of Fortescue’s Solomon operations in Western Australia.