IGO slumps to $782m half-year loss on lower prices, write-downs

The news: Critical minerals producer IGO has swung to a half-year loss on the back of lower earnings from its lithium business and hefty write-downs.

The numbers: The lithium and nickel miner posted a first-half net loss of $782.1 million, down from a profit of $288.3 million a year ago. Revenue fell 35% to $284 million. The company will not pay any interim dividend, down from 11 cents a share a year ago.

The context: The result reflects IGO’s share of a $602 million loss from its TLEA joint venture with China’s Tianqui. The miner last month confirmed it was ending all work and activity at the part-owned Kwinana lithium hydroxide refinery in Western Australia amid challenging market conditions. It also took a $115 million impairment against exploration assets. The TLEA joint venture part-owns Greenbushes — Australia’s biggest lithium mine, along with Albemarle.

“While our headline financial results for the half year reflect a number of significant challenges we have faced, I’m proud of the difficult and disciplined decisions we’ve made as a business to address these challenges, with clear commercial outcomes in mind,” chief executive Ivan Vella said.