Champion Iron (TSE:CIA) Releases Earnings Results

Champion Iron (TSE:CIA) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported C$0.05 EPS for the quarter, FiscalAI reports. Champion Iron had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 10.38%.The company had revenue of C$414.51 million during the quarter.

Here are the key takeaways from Champion Iron’s conference call:

• Champion posted a solid Q4 with 3.4 million tons produced, 3.45 million tons sold, CAD 414 million in revenue, and CAD 114 million of EBITDA. Iron recovery also improved to 80.6%.
• Management said operations were hurt by a planned maintenance shutdown, a third-party train derailment, and a harsh winter that hurt logistics and increased costs by about CAD 5 per ton. Despite that, Bloom Lake moved about 21 million tons at the mine for the quarter.
• The company said it met or exceeded all 14 sustainability targets and recorded another quarter with no major environmental issues at Bloom Lake. It also highlighted a 99.1% water recycling rate and a 2.6% year-over-year reduction in GHG emissions.
• Champion announced a new dynamic dividend policy targeting semi-annual payouts of 30%–40% of trailing six-month free cash flow, while also declaring a CAD 0.02 per share dividend for now. Management said the more conservative payout reflects volatile fuel and freight conditions and a focus on cash preservation.
• The DRPF flotation plant is nearing completion, with about CAD 480 million of the CAD 500 million budget already invested and ramp-up underway. Management expects to sell first cargoes in coming weeks or months and said the plant remains on track to be fully ramped next year within budget.

Champion Iron Stock Down 4.0%

CIA traded down C$0.20 on Thursday, hitting C$4.75. The company had a trading volume of 380,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,355. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$4.95 and a 200-day moving average price of C$5.20. Champion Iron has a 12-month low of C$3.43 and a 12-month high of C$6.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 67.59, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.56. The stock has a market capitalization of C$2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97, a P/E/G ratio of -1.35 and a beta of 0.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, B. Riley Financial upgraded Champion Iron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$6.33.

Champion Iron Company Profile

Champion Iron Ltd is engaged in the exploration and development of iron ore properties in Quebec, Canada. The company’s operating segment include Mine Site, Exploration and Evaluation, and Corporate. It generates maximum revenue from Mine Site segment. The company projects include Fire Lake North, Powderhorn/Gullbridge, Moire, Quinto Claims, Harvey Tuttle, O’keefe-Purdy, and others.