Kumba Iron Ore : results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2017

Audited annual results for the year ended 31 December 2017 and final cash dividend declaration
Significant improvement in safety, productivity and efficiencies delivered

Themba Mkhwanazi, Chief executive of Kumba, said, 'I am pleased to report that Kumba has delivered on our key objectives for 2017. Most importantly, our safety initiatives resulted in a fatality-free year with material improvement across our key indicators. At Sishen, our focus on all aspects of the value chain resulted in productivity gains by the fleet whilst we also delivered improved plant efficiencies and higher yields. These factors contributed to production above guidance with an overall increase of 8% to 45Mt. Higher production, together with ongoing cost discipline, contained unit costs below guidance.'

'Stronger operational performance has been our priority which, coupled with our focus on costs and ongoing capital discipline, resulted in the delivery of attributable free cash flow of R12.3 billion.'

'Overall, whilst both the operational and financial delivery has been strong, there remains more that can be done to realise the full potential of our assets and we remain committed to building on these gains in 2018.'

Key Features

• Material improvement in all key safety benchmarks and no fatal incidents
• Further operating performance gains
• Continued productivity gains with production of 45Mt, an 8% increase and total sales of 44.9Mt, an increase of 6%
• Strong financial performance
  • EBITDA of R19.6 billion, a 6 % increase
  • Attributable free cash flow of R12.3 billion, up 10%
  • Headline earnings of R9.7 billion, R30.47 per share, a 12% increase
  • An average realised FOB export price of $71/tonne
  • Final cash dividend of R15 per share, with total dividend of R30.97

Download the Annual Results for the year ended 31 December 2017.