95pc profit plunge for iluka

From the "West" today.....a slightly different profile but still.....may explain the recent SP weakness in SFX and apparent delay with diamond drill campaign?


"A collapse in the price of mineral sands has seen Iluka Resources' annual profit drop 95 per cent and has forced the miner to keep some WA assets in mothballs.

Shares in WA's fourth-biggest listed company are expected to be pounded this morning following the profit warning announced after the market closed yesterday.

The company said it expected to report an $18 million profit during 2013, down from $363.2 million in 2012.

In a further blow to its WA operations, the re-start of mining in the South West at Tutunup and Yoganup has been deferred.

Iluka also said it had deferred the reactivation of its Eneabba mine.

The company said a combination of writedowns, falling prices and a number of "year-end accounting adjustments" had led to the rapid fall.

Iluka said it had dropped costs 35 per cent over 2013 and culled 25 per cent of its total workforce but the fall in prices proved too strong for its bottom line.

A spokesman said the average price received fell from $1990 a tonne in 2012 to $1173/t last year.

Adding to the fall in profit, Iluka said it would write down the value of equipment not being used in WA by $28 million, valuing the assets as worthless. Those include three wet concentrator plants, two mining unit plants and the capitalised expenditure associated with restarting a synthetic rutile kiln."

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/latest/a/21416296/95pc-profit-plunge-for-iluka/