Champion Iron Reports Third Quarter Results

• Published Month : Wednesday, 29 Jan 2020 02:00 pm

Strong profitability with the production of Lac Bloom which continues to maintain its nominal capacity while preparing for the expansion project of phase II

Champion Iron Limited (TSX: CIA) (ASX: CIA) ("Champion" or the "Company") is pleased to announce solid operational and financial results for the third quarter ended December 31, 2019 of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020.

For full details of the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and the related management report, please consult the Company's documents filed on SEDAR ( www.sedar.com ) or on the Company's website ( www.championiron.com ). All amounts are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

Conference call details

Champion will host a conference call and webcast at 8:30 am EST (Montreal time) on Wednesday, January 29, 2020 to discuss the results of the third quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020. Details of the conference call are provided at the end of this press release.

1. HIGHLIGHTS

operational

• Quarterly production of 1,832,800 tmh of high grade iron ore concentrate (66.4% Fe), closely following the nominal capacity of the Lac Bloom mine during a planned semi-annual shutdown period, compared to 1 791,300 tmh at the same period last year;
• 81.7% quarterly recovery rate including a monthly recovery rate of 84.2% in December, close to the Corporation's highest monthly rate of 84.6%, compared to a recovery rate of 80.7% at the same period last year; and
• Total cash cost 1 of $ 54.2 / tms (US $ 41.1 / tms) (C1) and CMTI 1 of $ 62.2 / tms in the third quarter, compared to $ 49.4 / tms ($ 37.4 US / tms) (C1) and $ 55.5 / tms, respectively, in the same period last year, due to unplanned outages, higher port costs and investments in the tailings facility.

Financiers

• Revenues of $ 171.1 million, up 6.7% compared to the results of the previous quarter, compared to $ 147.5 million in the same period last year;
• EBITDA 1 totaling $ 57.9 million, representing a EBITDA margin of 34%, compared to $ 65.4 million, representing a EBITDA margin of 44% for the same period last year;
• Net income of $ 30.2 million or earnings per share of $ 0.07, compared to net earnings of $ 31.2 million or earnings per share of $ 0.05 for the same period last year; and
• Investments in Lac Bloom of $ 50.9 million, mainly related to the phase II expansion project, and prepayment of $ 14.3 million in municipal taxes to the city of Fermont , resulting in available cash 2 of 187 , $ 6 million as of December 31, 2019, compared to $ 185.4 million as of December 31, 2018.

Recent developments

• On January 6, 2020, the Company announced a proposal to resettle the Company from Australia to Canada , which should increase the Company's attractiveness for more diversified financial markets, in particular by becoming eligible for other global stock market indices.

Growth

• The Company is moving forward with the $ 68 million pre-approved work program on the Phase II expansion project for the Lac Bloom mine as described in the Phase II feasibility study (the “ feasibility study ”) filed on August 2, 2019.

"With the growing demand for our superior product, the Lac Bloom mine continues to produce at nominal capacity, thereby ensuring our Company a high level of profitability," said David Cataford , CEO of Champion. "We are taking advantage of this momentum to continue improving our processes in order to increase the reliability of our operations and to advance the critical elements to our expansion project of phase II." Thanks to our strong partnerships, we are well placed to consider the implementation of Phase II. "