Mining company Exxaro has posted a flat set of full-year results for the financial year ending December 31, 2025.
Despite falling coal export prices over the period, the company recorded eight per cent growth in headline earnings per share, higher revenues and dividend payments totaling R6.3 billion.
The miner says it is committed to maintaining safety across its various operations, as evidenced by zero fatalities for more than three years.
As Exaro Celebrating 20 years of listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the diversified miner stressed its commitment to security. Despite the challenging global environment, in which the company has had to contend with low coal export prices, coal remains the lifeline of the business. Exxaro delivered shareholder value through a 10-rand final dividend payment, up from an 8-rand interim payment last year.
“Safety is very important to the mining industry, and today, at our annual results, we celebrate 42 months without a fatality across Exxaro. This achievement includes almost 18,000 employees and multiple operations across the country, with everyone working safely. We also recorded the best ever lost time recurrence rate – a measure of how many people return to work the next day after being injured at work – which is now a record. 0.4%. Typically, this translates into costs, so our cost management programs have been well implemented and embedded,” says Ben Magara, CEO of Exxaro.
Exxaro has welcomed the logistics improvements at Transnet which have supported the efficient export of coal despite the uncertain global environment.
“There is more demand now for both oil and liquefied natural gas, and because there is more demand for them and not enough supply, our customers are able to switch between natural gas and coal. As a result, we are seeing a corresponding increase in coal demand and prices. We are already seeing a 15% increase in coal prices, which means our margins will improve. Unfortunately, the pressure from these disruptions is inflationary due to exchange rates and diesel prices. Therefore, We remain focused on managing the volume of diesel we consume. Domestically, we are very pleased to see the changing relationship between government and the private sector, which has led to good performance and our coal volumes for export continue to improve year on year.
Exxaro has stressed its commitment to diversify and expand its interests in the coal, renewable energy and metals markets. It said the acquisition of several manganese mines would provide significant value to the business.
Exxaro reports 8% rise in headline earnings per share