IGO FY24 Earnings Call Highlights

IGO (ASX: IGO) shares opened 3% higher on Thursday after reporting a resilient set of FY24 results and a higher-than-expected dividend.

FY24 Earnings Summary

• Revenue down 18% to $841m

• Underlying NPAT down 79% to $319m

• Net profit after tax down 99% to $3m

• Underlying free cash flow of $713m

• Final dividend of 26 cents per share

• Total FY24 dividend of 37 cents per share vs.

• Cash of $468m

Earnings Call Highlights

The below topics have been answered by CEO Ivan Vella.

FY24 performance: "Generated some good cash through the year. The underlying NPAT of $319 million speaks to the performance of this business and a strong balance sheet with $468 million in the bank."

Dividend policy: "Last year, Kath helped pull together this capital management framework. It's very important that we're clear on this piece. Today, we've declared, with the board approving a 2.6 cents final dividend, 3.7 cents for the year, which is about $280 million."

Capital management: "For me, it's very important that we are disciplined in following our capital management framework, our dividend policy, and returning money to shareholders."

Nickel assets: "Nova and Forrestania have generated strong free cash flow through the year — $331 million — despite challenges in the market and broader industry pressures."

Greenbushes: "Greenbushes performed well despite volatility, producing just under 1.4 million tonnes with production costs of $330 per tonne. EBITDA averaged 85%."

Kwinana shutdown: "Kwinana faced plenty of challenges, but the team has stabilized production and improved outcomes over the last 6 to 8 months. We recognize there's still more to do, but they are on the right track."

Analyst Q&A Highlights

On dividend policy: "We've paid out on our policy to the 40% or thereabouts. And we feel that in the current market environment, that's you know an example of an indication of our confidence in the business and the assets that we've got."

Strategic direction: "No, it's very much about battery materials. And gold is not one of them unless you count electronics, which is not a big point of consumption."

On portfolio monetisation: "Look, yes, in some cases, we will consider selling or monetizing some of our portfolio where that makes sense. But we're doing this very thoughtfully given we've spent years building up a position."

On Kwinana shutdown: "It's going to be early Q4 this year. And obviously, the intent is to deal with normal shutdown maintenance and just general asset health issues and and normal work that's required."

On Cosmos asset sale: "Cosmos is not for sale. That's not sort of the message I wanted to say."

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor.