News: PLS UPDATE 1-Lithium miner Pilbara Minerals posts slump in profit, withholds dividend

(Updates with lithium pricing in paragraphs 2 and 3, capital expenditure forecast in paragraph 6)

Feb 22 (Reuters) - Australia's Pilbara Minerals (PLS) reported a 78% drop in its first-half underlying profit on Thursday, hurt by weak lithium prices, and said it was not declaring any interim dividend to preserve capital to invest in projects.

Lithium prices declined significantly from record highs a year ago, largely offsetting an increase in Pilbara's sales volumes for the first half of fiscal 2024, it said in a statement.

Pilbara received average realised prices for its spodumene concentrate of $1,645 per dry metric tonne (dmt), sharply lower than $4,993 per dmt a year ago.

As a result, Australia's biggest pure-play lithium miner's underlying profit after tax fell to A$273 million ($178.79 million) in the six months ended Dec. 31 from A$1.24 billion a year ago.

In the first half, it did not declare a dividend to "reinforce balance sheet" and "preserve capital". Last year, it had declared an interim dividend of 11 Australian cents per share - its first dividend since it went public in 2007.

The miner forecast its fiscal 2024 capital expenditure at between A$820 million and A$875 million.

($1 = 1.5270 Australian dollars)