Green energy boost for iron ore miner’s profits
Australia’s fourth-largest iron ore producer has boosted earnings on record shipments as it continues to shift to ‘green’ energy and is forecasting more of the same as the financial year ends.
Fortescue announced a 23 percent increase in net profit to $1.9 billion ($2.7 billion) and revenue of $8.4 billion ($11.9 billion).
The group, chaired by billionaire and green energy enthusiast Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, shipped a record 100.2 million tonnes in the half-year ending in December.
“The first half of the fiscal year was remarkable,” said Dino Otranto, CEO of Metals and Operations.
“We have the lowest operating costs in the industry and decarbonization drives this even lower.”
Fortescue is eliminating the use of diesel fuel at its Pilbara sites, based in Western Australia.
“The more we eliminate diesel, the less exposed we are to price fluctuations and the stronger and more predictable our margins become,” Mr. Otranto said.
Fortescue has installed thousands of solar panels at its flagship Cloudbreak iron ore mine and its first wind farm is under construction.
“We have delivered two large battery energy storage systems to our sites and are working with leading global manufacturers to bring electric mining equipment, battery systems and large-scale renewable infrastructure to market,” Mr Otranto said.
“A few years ago this might have seemed ambitious.
“Today it’s part of the way we work and it lowers our cost base as we build it.”
Fortescue’s first-half profits, excluding interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, rose 23 percent to $4.5 billion ($6.4 billion).
Fortescue expects to ship 195-205 million tonnes of iron ore in 2025/26.
Declared a first-half dividend of 62 cents per share; This rate increased by 24 percent from 50 cents in the previous period.
Australia’s Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national news channel and has been providing accurate, reliable and fast-paced news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We inform Australia.
