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Afarak Group Earnings Release 2016

Nov 11, 2016

3302_rns_2016-11-11_5f5e42eb-71fa-46a1-9505-73b96e7d5897.html

Earnings Release

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Afarak Group : 3rd Quarter Results

Afarak Group : 3rd Quarter Results

07:00 London, 09:00 Helsinki, 11 November 2016 - Afarak Group Plc ("Afarak" or
"the Company") (LSE: AFRK, NASDAQ: AFAGR) Interim Report

AFARAK GROUP PLC'S UNAUDITED INTERIM REPORT FOR 1 JULY - 30 SEPTEMBER 2016

Q3 HIGHLIGHTS (July-September 2016):

Afarak displayed resilience in the face of a challenging quarter and is well-
positioned to benefit from the current market upswing.

Health, safety & environment
* One worker, Nelson Maurison Msimango, succumbed to grievous injuries
sustained followed at accident at Mogale plant

Investor highlights
* Capital redemption of EUR 2.6 (0.0) million approved and paid during the
quarter

Financial highlights
* Revenue decreased by 35.4% to EUR 28.9 (Q3/2015: 44.8) million
* EBITDA was EUR -2.8 (Q3/2015: 1.3) million and the EBITDA margin was -9.8%
(Q3/2015: 2.8%)
EBIT was EUR -4.5 (Q3/2015: -0.7) million and the EBIT margin was -15.7%
(Q3/2015: -1.5%)
* Profit for the period from continuing operations totalled EUR -3.2 (Q3/2015:
-1.0) million
* Cash flow from operations was EUR -5.5 (Q3/2015: 9.9) million and liquid
funds at 30 September was EUR 7.0 (30 September 2015: 22.3) (30 June
2016: 13.2) million

Operational highlights
* Processed material sold decreased by 11.7% to 18,023 (Q3/2015: 20,419)
tonnes
* Production of processed material decreased by 4.4% to 18,489 (Q3/2015:
19,348) tonnes
* Tonnage mined decreased by 64.2% to 45,487 (Q3/2015: 127,004) tonnes

                       +------+     |       +--------+        |      +-----+

KEY FIGURES (EUR million) |Q3/16 |Q3/15|Change |Q1-Q3/16|Q1-Q3/15|Change|FY |
| | | | | | |2015 |
---------------------------+------+-----+-------+--------+--------+------+-----+
Revenue |28.9 |44.8 |-35.4% |109.2 |138.5 |-21.2%|187.7|
---------------------------+------+-----+-------+--------+--------+------+-----+
EBITDA |-2.8 |1.3 |-326.0%|1.2 |13.5 |-91.0%|17.2 |
| | | | | | | |
EBITDA margin |-9.8% |2.8% |  |1.1% |9.8% |  |9.2% |
---------------------------+------+-----+-------+--------+--------+------+-----+
EBIT |-4.5 |-0.7 |  |-3.7 |8.1 |  |9.9 |
| | | | | | | |
EBIT margin |-15.7%|-1.5%|  |-3.4% |5.8% |  |5.3% |
---------------------------+------+-----+-------+--------+--------+------+-----+
Earnings before taxes |-4.2 |-2.0 |  |-4.6 |6.1 |  |6.5 |
| | | | | | | |
Earnings margin |-14.6%|-4.5%|  |-4.2% |4.4% |  |3.5% |
---------------------------+------+-----+-------+--------+--------+------+-----+
Profit from continuing|-3.2 |-1.0 |  |-4.5 |7.0 |  |7.8 |
operations | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
Profit from discontinued|1.0 |0 |  |1.5 |0 |  |0.8 |
operations | | | | | | | |
---------------------------+------+-----+-------+--------+--------+------+-----+
Profit |-2.2 |-1.0 |  |-3.0 |7.0 |  |8.5 |
| | | | | | | |
Earnings per share, basic,|-0.01 |0.00 |  |-0.01 |0.03 |  |0.03 |
EUR | | | | | | | |
---------------------------+------+-----+-------+--------+--------+------+-----+

Commenting on the third quarter results, Alistair Ruiters, CEO, said:

"The company endured a very challenging quarter.  It was extremely painful to
deal with the loss of one of our colleagues, Nelson Maurison Msimango, who
passed away following a fatal accident at our Mogale plant.  We are continuing
with our efforts to enhance health and safety procedures at our plants.

Markets remained subdued as prices for many of our products continued to slide
accompanied by tapered demand.   With prices gravitating downwards, our sales
volumes in the speciality alloy segment were hit hard.  Our mining and
production volumes were lower due to safety stoppages at our mines and due to
the closure of Mogale Alloys plant following the fatality.  In response, Afarak
focused its efforts on prudent working capital management, the procurement of
strategic raw materials at competitive prices and debt collection.  Our sales of
materials, particularly charge chrome, remained satisfactory despite the
seasonality associated with weak demand in the third quarter.

We are seeing a recovery in prices. Benchmark prices for charge chrome have
accelerated and demand is gaining traction. This improved market sentiment
together with our strong managerial and production capabilities should further
support our efforts to generate value for our shareholders."

Disclosure procedure

Afarak follows the disclosure procedure enabled by Disclosure obligation of the
issuer (7/2013) published by the Finnish Financial Supervision Authority, and
hereby publishes its Q3/2016 unaudited interim report enclosed to this stock
exchange release. The Interim Report is attached to this release and is also
available on the Company's website at www.afarak.com.

Investor Conference Call
Management will host an investor conference call in English on 11 November 2016
at 14.00 Finnish time, 12.00 UK time. Please dial-in at least 10 minutes
beforehand, quoting the reference: 38313.

Finnish number +358 (0) 800 774 579
UK number +44 (0) 844 229 0 900

AFARAK GROUP PLC
Alistair Ruiters
CEO

For additional information, please contact:

Afarak Group Plc
Alistair Ruiters, CEO, +358 50 372 1130, [email protected]
Melvin Grima, Finance Director, +356 2122 1566, [email protected]
Jean Paul Fabri, PR & Communications Manager, +356 2122 1566,
[email protected]

Financial reports and other investor information are available on the Company's
website: www.afarak.com.

Afarak Group is a chrome mining and minerals producer focused on delivering
sustainable growth with a Speciality Alloys business in southern Europe and a
FerroAlloys business in South Africa. The Company is listed on NASDAQ Helsinki
(AFAGR) and the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (AFRK).

Distribution:
NASDAQ Helsinki
London Stock Exchange
main media
www.afarak.com

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations
(EU) No. 596/2014 ('MAR'). Upon the publication of this announcement via
Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside information is now
considered to be in the public domain.

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