Tharisa PLC (LSE:THS, JSE:THA, OTC:TIHRF) CEO Phoevos Pouroulis explains to Proactive what has pleased him about the twelve month’s trading.
Phoevos Pouroulis: I think the standout key feature for us is that we've had a zero lost-time injury-free year.
Considering the environment we work in, it's a remarkable achievement. The team has put huge effort into instilling our core value of safety in everything we do.
So, it’s something to be mindful of and to take recognition for, but it’s important to remember that it is a continuous effort that requires vigilance.
Complacency is the enemy of safety standards. I’m very pleased with that. As we always say, a safe, clean environment is a productive environment.
That was borne out by our record 1.7 million tons of chrome concentrate production at a very robust price of $299 per ton for the year.
This boosted our revenues to over $720 million, up 11% year-on-year.
Proactive: And importantly your free cash flow from operating activities also increased significantly.
Phoevos Pouroulis: That’s right. Free cash from operating activities reached US$204 million.
This allowed us to reinvest in the business while also supporting our three pillars of capital discipline: stay-in-business capital, investment in growth through the Karo project, and returning cash to shareholders.
We declared a final dividend of three US cents per share, totalling 4.5 cents for the year. This is just above our stated dividend policy.
Proactive: That’s down from five cents in the previous year, but you returned a significant amount of capital to shareholders through share buy backs?
Phoevos Pouroulis: We executed a US$5 million share buyback. It performed better than anticipated and created market stabilisation.
This equated to a 1.6 US cents return to shareholders. The board and management are considering similar measures in the future.
Proactive: Some of the other highlights of the period include concluding a five-year wage deal and advancing your beneficiation strategy.
Phoevos Pouroulis: The five-year wage agreement is our third multi-year agreement on site at Tharisa.
It reflects protracted negotiations due to the sensitivity of above-inflationary costs in South Africa. This agreement supports a stable work environment and ensures no disruption from industrial action.
On beneficiation, we are starting to see returns on our investments in technology R&D. We’ve commercialized our chrome alloy business, which allows us to sell products directly to final industrial users, and we’re looking to scale that up.
We’ve also made significant progress in PGM refining. At our pilot facility, we’ve been processing PGM into alloys. Now, we’re constructing a commercial unit to produce refined four-nine PGM metals.
Proactive: Can you tell us more about your energy storage technology?
Phoevos Pouroulis: Our Redox One technology is a chrome-ion redox flow battery. We successfully commissioned a 40-kilowatt demonstration unit and are scaling it up to 200 kilowatts.
We’re on track for commercialisation at the megawatt scale, offering a long-duration, low-cost energy storage solution.
Proactive: You also touched on your Vision 2025 strategy during your results presentation. Can you elaborate?
Phoevos Pouroulis: Vision 2025 is based on six pillars of growth. These include expanding existing operations, innovation through R&D, and diversifying beyond mining into multiple products.
We aim to create solutions for global challenges using the metals we mine. For example, we’re making great progress in downstream opportunities and at the Karo development in Zimbabwe, which is a tier-one asset. The timing aligns well with the anticipated recovery in PGM markets.
Proactive: How is the 2025 financial year looking so far?
Phoevos Pouroulis: We’re two months into the year and progressing as expected. No issues at this stage.