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Highlights

  • South32 improved its manganese ore production by around 4% in Q1 FY24
  • The company clocked 3% surge in alumina production to 1,290 kt in the reporting period, as compared to 1,257 kt in Q1 FY23
  • The company secured a revenue of USD7429 million in FY23, which was 19% lower than FY22

LSE index-listed South32 Limited (LSE: S32) is a mining and metals company operating across segments - Hermosa, Cerro Matoso, Hillside Aluminium, Mozal Aluminium, Worsley Alumina, Brazil Alumina, Brazil Aluminium, Illawarra Metallurgical Coal, Sierra Gorda, Cannington, Australia Manganese and South Africa Manganese. The company has been working on to optimize costs. It has started a group-wide review to analyse the effect of the cost-cutting strategies on results in FY24 and FY25.


In the first half of the fiscal year 2024, South32 improved its manganese ore production by around 4%. It was recorded at 1,518 kwmt in Q1 FY24, versus 1,257 kwmt in the previous corresponding period. This was mainly because of increase in production from Australian and South African sites. Furthermore, the company clocked 3% surge in alumina production to 1,290 kt in the reporting period, as compared to 1,257 kt in Q1 FY23.

The company secured a revenue of USD7429 million in FY23, which shows a decrease of 19% compared to FY22. Also, S32’s Underlying EBITDA reduced by 46% to USD 2534 million in FY23, from USD4755 million in FY22. It was due to a decline in finance income and lower commodity prices in FY23.

S32’s annualized dividend yield stands at 4.13% as per the closing price of the stock on 24 October 2023. It paid a final dividend of GBX 2.55 per share earlier this month.

The company is expecting Worsley Alumina production to be around 4,000 kt in FY24, while Brazil's aluminia production is likley to be around 1,400 kt in FY25.

Top 10 Shareholders

Approximately 20.83% of the total shareholdings is held by its top ten shareholders. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the biggest shareholder with the maximum number of shares of around 5.19%, while BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. holds nearly 3.35% shareholding in S32.

 

Stock Price Performance

S32’s stock price dropped 17.86% in the past three months. It’s 52-week high and low price stand at GBX 278.00 and GBX 164.20, respectively.

Note 1: Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Note 2: The reference data for all price data, currency, technical indicators, support, and resistance levels is 24 October 2023. The reference data in this report has been partly sourced from EODHD/Others.