Aim-listed Sylvania Platinum reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of $13.5-million for the financial year ended June 30, an 80% decrease on the Ebitda of $66-million reported for the 2023 financial year.

The company attributed the year-on-year decrease in Ebitda mainly to lower platinum group metal (PGM) prices.

The average gross basket price for PGMs decreased by 36% to $1 339/oz for the year under review, compared with $2 086/oz for the 2023 financial year. This was primarily owing to a 51% year-on-year decrease in the rhodium price and a 38% year-on-year decrease in the palladium price.

The lower basket price, along with a 4% year-on-year decrease in production, resulted in a decrease in Sylvania’s revenue to $81.7-million, from $130.2-million in the prior financial year.

Net profit was also lower at $7-million for the year under review, compared with the profit of $45.4-million reported for the prior year.

Group cash costs increased by 18% year-on-year to $907/oz and all-in sustaining costs by 11% year-on-year to $967/oz.

Sylvania generated cash from operations, before working capital movements, of $13.5-million and ended the financial year with a cash balance of $97.8-million.

“From a PGM market perspective, it was another year where commodity prices remained a challenge. This negatively impacted our overall financial results for the year; however, we remain optimistic about price improvements in the 2025 financial year, along with chrome revenue from the Thaba joint venture (JV),” CEO Jaco Prinsloo comments.

He reiterates the potential Sylvania sees in the Thaba JV project.

“This is a very exciting development for the company as it is an important step towards our further growth and diversification strategy, where we will be adding an attributable annual production of approximately 6 800 four-element (4E) PGM ounces and introducing 210 000 t of chromite concentrate and chrome income to the existing production profile and revenue stream, respectively.”

He points out that there has been significant progress on the development of project, with first PGM and chrome production expected in the second half of the 2025 financial year.

Further, Prinsloo highlights that the company’s lower-cost strategy has helped to keep it cash-generative, despite the lower PGM basket prices.

“It is also encouraging for the future that, even amid a difficult price environment, we have been able to advance our projects and return value to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share buybacks, which total $23.4-million paid out for the financial year.

“Given the price environment, I am pleased to report that the board has declared a final cash dividend of 1p a share for the 2024 financial year, resulting in a combined annual dividend of 3p a share for the financial year.

“The full-year dividend reflects an amount materially higher than the minimum payment required under our dividend policy and reflects our commitment to returning capital to shareholders wherever possible,” he says.

With material expansion and capital expenditure projects planned this year and next, and set against the ongoing price environment, Prinsloo says Sylvania will continue to prioritise capital returns to its shareholders alongside its value creation and business sustaining requirements.

“The combination of our strong cash position and our lower-cost operations gives us the flexibility to manage these requirements at a time when the wider PGM industry is suffering from significantly reduced revenue flows.

"The board is optimistic about the year ahead and believes our operations will continue to deliver a strong production performance, while striving to improve operational efficiencies. In line with this, the board has set an annual production target of 73 000 to 76 000 4E PGM ounces for the 2025 financial year,” he says.