Jubilee Metals Group PLC on Thursday reported a decline in first-half profit after completing the expansion of its chrome and platinum group metals operations.

The London-based metals processing company saw its pretax profit more than halved to £9.3 million for six months ended December 31, down from £24.4 million in the prior year.

Interim revenue rose by 19% to £63.3 million from £53.4 million, mainly as a result of a sharp increase in the chrome production output which is subject to a fixed contracted earnings margin and acts as a feeder to the PGM operations.

Despite strong revenue growth, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation slumped to £14.9 million from £29.3 million.

No interim dividend was declared during the period under review.

Diluted headline earnings per share shrunk to 0.31 pence from 0.89p due to operational downtime to allow for the construction and re-commissioning of the new integrated Inyoni facility.

In the first half, Jubilee completed the construction of its Inyoni chrome and PGM facility in South Africa in November and ramped up the upgraded facility to reach full production in December.

In addition, the group increased interim copper production and the new Roan copper concentrator in Zambia, entering its commissioning phase after December 31. It expects to fully ramp up production there in May. Its Southern Copper Refining Strategy in Zambia seeks to deliver more than 10,000 tonnes of copper per annum.

Jubilee invested £35 million or R 750 million in the first half to lay the foundation for sustained growth in South Africa and Zambia.

Shares in Jubilee were down 0.3% to R 2.89 each on Thursday morning in Johannesburg, and were down 2.6% to 14.22p each in London.

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