London-listed Bisichi Mining achieved good results for the year ended December 31, 2018, attributable mainly to the strong performance at its Black Wattle coal mine, in South Africa, which continued to benefit from infrastructure improvements at its coal washing plant, chairperson Sir Michael Heller said on Monday.
In a release, he noted that these improvements had enabled the group to wash at consistent levels of production and achieve an increased overall yield compared with prior years.
Moreover, the mine benefitted from considerably improved coal prices.
Bisichi recorded company earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of £8.6-million, compared with £3.7-million in 2017, and an operating profit before depreciation, fair value adjustments and exchange movements of £9.1-million, compared with £5.8-million in 2017.
During the year, an agreement was signed to acquire an additional 1.9-million metric tonnes of run-of-mine coal contiguous to Black Wattle’s operations.
Looking ahead, although the company has seen global economic factors impact on coal demand in some international markets, the demand for South African coal has remained strong and Heller expected levels of production from Black Wattle to remain consistent with that of 2018 during this year.
Therefore, the company remained confident in the ability of its South African coal mining operations to contribute strongly to its group earnings and cash generation for the foreseeable future, Heller noted.