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2014 OUTLOOK: Aussie group expects first profit in 12 years with contribution from local rare earth ops


Lynas Corp may book a profit at the group level next year due to contribution from its Malaysian operations, says its chief executive officer Eric Noyrez.

The company, listed on the Australian stock exchange, started operating its rare earth mineral refinery plant in Gebeng, Pahang, in February.

Lynas has been bleeding red ink for nearly 12 years but is expected to post A$287.70 million (RM863 million) in revenue and A$3.6 million in net income next year.

For the current year ending June 30 2013, Lynas is expected to suffer a net loss of A$99.30 million, slightly less than the A$105.87 million loss previously.

In an exclusive interview with Business Times here yesterday, Noyrez said eventually, the Malaysian operations can contribute as much as 80 per cent to the company’s coffers.

Lynas’ plant in Gebeng in seen as a game changer in the rare earth business, where China has a visible control.

The United States national intelligence agency said in its 2013 Worldwide Threat Assessment that rare earth elements are
essential to civilian and military technologies and the 21st century global economy.

This includes green technologies, such as wind turbines and advanced battery systems, and advanced defence systems.

Rare earth metals are also critical in most mobile devices, computer disk drives and televisions.

The Gebeng plant, when fully equipped at maximum capacity, will be producing some 20 per cent of the world’s refined rare earths,
placing Malaysia’s as the world’s second largest producer.

Lynas has thus far pumped in some RM2.5 billion into the plant and in return, has received generous tax breaks from the government.

Asked if the company will place out new shares to Malaysia's government-linked entities, such as the Employees Provident Fund and Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Noyrez said there are no such plans at the moment.

"We are a public-listed company, anyone can buy our shares," he said, adding that Lynas does have some Malaysians as its shareholders.

No names or percentage of shares held by Malaysians were disclosed.

A quick check on Bloomberg shows that Lynas was 71 per cent owned by investment advisers, with some 45 per cent of its shareholders from the US, Australia (13 per cent) and Germany (10.8 per cent).

On a micro level, Bloomberg data show that banks and hedge funds such as Morgan Stanley, Union Investment GmbH, Norges Bank, Blackrock and the Macquire group are some of the big shareholders of the company.