Jubilee Metals Group PLC (LON:JLP) said the first quarter of 2019 was “an exceptional period” for the company.
The group posted a 54% year-on-year (YOY) increase in revenue to £6.56mln and a 57% YOY gain in operational earnings to £3.22mln.
Following completion of the acquisition of the PlatCro chrome operation in mid-January 2019, the company has successfully phased in management and operational control over the project. Jubilee said the business has already contributed more to the group's chrome earnings than was expected.
Quarterly Operations Update Q1 2019https://t.co/VQM9zX5qbR
— Jubilee Metals Group (@group_metals) May 9, 2019
The PlatCro platinum group metals (PGM) project is expected to commence with the production of platinum and palladium-rich concentrates during the current quarter, and has the potential to double Jubilee's current PGM-ounce production over the life of the project.
Elsewhere, the Hernic PGM operation maintained a strong performance despite the power outages suffered during February and the delay in reaching full operational levels following the festive period. It produced at below US$400 per PGM ounce sold, to achieve an attributable project earnings return of £1.91mln in the quarter.
At the group's DCM fine chrome project, the production rate continues to be ramped up with design throughput rates of 25,000 tonnes per month expected to be reached this quarter.
Jubilee revealed that BMR Group is no longer a shareholder after all of its Jubilee shares were placed with a large institutional investment fund.
"The period has been exceptional for Jubilee, showcasing the implementation of our stated mission to grow our earnings base, while maintaining strong margins and diversifying our operational footprint into base metals and across a number of mining jurisdictions,” said Leon Coetzer, the chief executive officer of Jubilee.
“The team delivered strong earnings growth breaching £3mln while simultaneously implementing the PlatCro chrome transaction to increase our chrome operational footprint and successfully securing the funding for the implementation of our Zambian Kabwe project. This performance was achieved despite a notoriously slow operational period in January,” Coetzer observed.
Jubilee shares were up 3.7% at 3.55p in early deals.