Aurizon share price dips along with profits
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More news: Aurizon's share price fell by more than 3% following slumping results, but has recovered slightly to $3.63, trading at a 1.9% discount to Friday's close.
Aurizon full-year profit sinks as volumes drop
The news: Australia’s top rail freight operator Aurizon has posted a 37% slide in annual profit as prolonged wet weather affected coal freight volumes.
The numbers: Net profit for the year to 30 June fell 37% to $324 million. Underlying earnings for the year were down 3% to $1.43 billion, in line with the company’s guidance in July, while revenue was up 14% to $3.51 billion. The company will pay a final dividend of 8 cents a share, down from 10.9 cents a year earlier.
The context: Aurizon last month warned investors its underlying profit would be lower due to wet weather and mine-specific production issues. It expects underlying earnings in FY24 to improve to between $1.59 billion-$1.68 billion.
What they said: “We see major growth opportunities in central Australia, with 2500 kilometres of rail infrastructure and a line that runs directly into the Port of Darwin."
"There are more than 250 projects for new-economy commodities in South Australia and the Northern Territory, in various stages of exploration and pre-production, including copper, magnetite, phosphate and rare earths. Many of these projects sit adjacent to the rail corridor." Aurizon Managing Director & CEO Andrew Harding said.
The source: ASX announcement
