Pilbara Minerals shares lift on Q1 update as lithium rivals rally
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
More news: Pilbara Minerals shares advanced in morning trade after the lithium producer reported a 30% rise in revenue for the September quarter.
Pilbara shares were up 5.1% to $3.11 at 11:40am AEDT — but the stock lagged gains by lithium rivals Liontown Resources (+6.6%), Mineral Resources (+6%) and IGO (+5.8%).
RBC Capital Markets analyst Kaan Peker called it a "strong, clean first quarter" for Pilbara Minerals. He noted the result beat RBC's estimates on realised pricing, costs and recoveries for the period. Production was marginally higher than expected, he said, while sales volumes were slightly lower due to the timing of shipments.
Pilbara Minerals posts 30% rise in revenue on improved lithium pricing
The news: Lithium miner Pilbara Minerals has reported a 30% jump in revenue for the September quarter, driven up by higher realised pricing during the period.
The numbers: Pilbara recorded quarterly revenue of $251 million, up from $193 million in the previous quarter. Production was up 2% quarter on quarter to 224,800 tonnes, with sales edging down 1% to 214,000 tonnes.
The company saw an average realised price of USD742 ($1,140) per tonne, up 24% on the June quarter.
The context: Pilbara said operating performance remained strong at its flagship Pilgangoora project in Western Australia, boosted by improved mining efficiencies. The miner is undertaking an ongoing transition to an owner-operator model at the site, which will continue through this financial year.
The company said these changes are enabling higher mining volumes at reduced unit cost and absolute spend, while improving operational resilience and ore supply security ahead of the wet season.
The source: ASX
