Tirupati Graphite PLC on Thursday said it swung to profit in the first half of its financial year amid a boost in sales and a £9.7 million gain from an acquisition completed earlier in the year.
Shares in Tirupati were up 11% at 16.64 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
The natural flake graphite producer, which has operations in Madagascar and Mozambique, said it swung to a pretax profit of £7.8 million in the six months that ended September 30 from a £1.5 million loss a year prior.
This was driven by a £9.7 million gain on its ’bargain purchase’ of Suni Resources SA, the Mozambique subsidiary of Battery Minerals Ltd, which it acquried in April.
Also, revenue more than doubled to £3.1 million from £1.2 million a year before. Gross operating profit doubled to £780,328 from £377,883.
Looking ahead, Tirupati said it remains engaged in discussions to ‘achieve its targets as it continues to ramp up production and sales within its current resources.’
Executive Chair Shishir Poddar commented: ‘ We are exploring a variety of funding options that will enable us to accelerate the production ramp-up and growth through 2024 and onwards, having laid a strong foundation to build a leadership position in this critical material.’
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