Anglo American's Kumba Reports Lower 1H Ebitda as Iron-Ore Production, Prices Fell

Kumba Iron Ore Ltd. on Tuesday reported lower Ebitda for the first half of the year, as its iron-ore production and realized prices declined.

The South African mining company, which is 69.71% owned by Anglo American PLC, achieved earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 23.1 billion rand ($1.38 billion) in the six months ended June 30. This was down from ZAR44.4 billion a year earlier.

Attributable free cash flow dropped to ZAR9.7 billion from ZAR31.5 billion.

Kumba said its production fell 13% in the period due to adverse weather, equipment and logistics availability challenges, and a safety reset initiative which impacted operations. In addition, realized iron-ore prices fell to $136 per wet metric ton from $216 a year earlier.

The company declared an interim dividend of ZAR28.70, down from ZAR72.70 a year earlier.