Afarak Group : 3rd Quarter Results

07:00 London, 09:00 Helsinki, 11 November 2016 - Afarak Group Plc ("Afarak" or "the Company") (LSE: AFRK, NASDAQ: AFAGR) Interim Report

AFARAK GROUP PLC'S UNAUDITED INTERIM REPORT FOR 1 JULY - 30 SEPTEMBER 2016

Q3 HIGHLIGHTS (July-September 2016):

Afarak displayed resilience in the face of a challenging quarter and is well-positioned to benefit from the current market upswing.

Health, safety & environment

• One worker, Nelson Maurison Msimango, succumbed to grievous injuries sustained followed at accident at Mogale plant

Investor highlights

• Capital redemption of EUR 2.6 (0.0) million approved and paid during the quarter

Financial highlights

• Revenue decreased by 35.4% to EUR 28.9 (Q3/2015: 44.8) million
• EBITDA was EUR -2.8 (Q3/2015: 1.3) million and the EBITDA margin was -9.8% (Q3/2015: 2.8%)
  EBIT was EUR -4.5 (Q3/2015: -0.7) million and the EBIT margin was -15.7% (Q3/2015: -1.5%)
• Profit for the period from continuing operations totalled EUR -3.2 (Q3/2015: -1.0) million
• Cash flow from operations was EUR -5.5 (Q3/2015: 9.9) million and liquid funds at 30 September was EUR 7.0 (30 September 2015: 22.3) (30 June 2016: 13.2) million

Operational highlights

• Processed material sold decreased by 11.7% to 18,023 (Q3/2015: 20,419) tonnes
• Production of processed material decreased by 4.4% to 18,489 (Q3/2015: 19,348) tonnes
• Tonnage mined decreased by 64.2% to 45,487 (Q3/2015: 127,004) tonnes

KEY FIGURES (EUR million)	Q3/16	Q3/15	Change	Q1-Q3/16	Q1-Q3/15	Change	FY 2015
Revenue	28.9	44.8	-35.4%	109.2	138.5	-21.2%	187.7
EBITDA	-2.8	1.3	-326.0%	1.2	13.5	-91.0%	17.2
EBITDA margin	-9.8%	2.8%		1.1%	9.8%		9.2%
EBIT	-4.5	-0.7		-3.7	8.1		9.9
EBIT margin	-15.7%	-1.5%		-3.4%	5.8%		5.3%
Earnings before taxes	-4.2	-2.0		-4.6	6.1		6.5
Earnings margin	-14.6%	-4.5%		-4.2%	4.4%		3.5%
Profit from continuing operations	-3.2	-1.0		-4.5	7.0		7.8
Profit from discontinued operations	1.0	0		1.5	0		0.8
Profit	-2.2	-1.0		-3.0	7.0		8.5
Earnings per share, basic, EUR	-0.01	0.00		-0.01	0.03		0.03

Commenting on the third quarter results, Alistair Ruiters, CEO, said:

"The company endured a very challenging quarter.  It was extremely painful to deal with the loss of one of our colleagues, Nelson Maurison Msimango, who passed away following a fatal accident at our Mogale plant.  We are continuing with our efforts to enhance health and safety procedures at our plants.

Markets remained subdued as prices for many of our products continued to slide accompanied by tapered demand.   With prices gravitating downwards, our sales volumes in the speciality alloy segment were hit hard.  Our mining and production volumes were lower due to safety stoppages at our mines and due to the closure of Mogale Alloys plant following the fatality.  In response, Afarak focused its efforts on prudent working capital management, the procurement of strategic raw materials at competitive prices and debt collection.  Our sales of materials, particularly charge chrome, remained satisfactory despite the seasonality associated with weak demand in the third quarter.

We are seeing a recovery in prices. Benchmark prices for charge chrome have accelerated and demand is gaining traction. This improved market sentiment together with our strong managerial and production capabilities should further support our efforts to generate value for our shareholders."

Disclosure procedure

Afarak follows the disclosure procedure enabled by Disclosure obligation of the issuer (7/2013) published by the Finnish Financial Supervision Authority, and hereby publishes its Q3/2016 unaudited interim report enclosed to this stock exchange release. The Interim Report is attached to this release and is also available on the Company's website at www.afarak.com.

Investor Conference Call

Management will host an investor conference call in English on 11 November 2016 at 14.00 Finnish time, 12.00 UK time. Please dial-in at least 10 minutes beforehand, quoting the reference: 38313.

Finnish number [phone]
UK number [phone]

AFARAK GROUP PLC
Alistair Ruiters
CEO

For additional information, please contact:

Afarak Group Plc
Alistair Ruiters, CEO, [phone], [e-mail]
Melvin Grima, Finance Director, [phone], [e-mail]
Jean Paul Fabri, PR & Communications Manager, [phone], [e-mail]

Financial reports and other investor information are available on the Company's website: www.afarak.com.

Afarak Group is a chrome mining and minerals producer focused on delivering sustainable growth with a Speciality Alloys business in southern Europe and a FerroAlloys business in South Africa. The Company is listed on NASDAQ Helsinki (AFAGR) and the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (AFRK).

Distribution:
NASDAQ Helsinki
London Stock Exchange
main media
www.afarak.com 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ('MAR'). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

Q3 RESULTS EN

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Source: Afarak Group via Globenewswire