Australia's leading independent lithium producer knows how to keep the faith when market forces turn against battery minerals.
"A year in the lithium market is eternity," Pilbara Minerals chief executive Dale Henderson told investors on Monday.
A survivor of the previous "lithium winter" four years ago when the stock dropped below 20 cents, the stoic boss of the world's largest hard-rock producer outside China is preparing to ride out the latest price slump.
A new $1 billion debt facility inked with a group of banks was "well over-subscribed", Mr Henderson said, as a wave of green capital continues to make longer-term bets on decarbonisation.
Despite the price pullback, there were "a number of strong markers" across the electric vehicle market and sales demand more generally, he said, with sales of EVs in China in July surpassing combustion engine vehicles for the first time.
Shares in Pilbara rose two cents or 0.6 per cent to $3.00 in early afternoon trade, in line with the broader market.
After the record highs of 2022 and 2023, many analysts expect prices for battery minerals to remain depressed for years, which could benefit existing producers but make it harder for newcomers to enter the battery supply chain.
Pilbara Minerals maintains a strong competitive position relative to many peers within the sector, Mr Henderson said.
"We remain positive on the long-term prospects for this industry," he said.
"Historically, we have experienced periods of volatility in the industry as it's continued to grow and as we're seeing now ... it is this experience that guides us."
The company reported an 89 per cent plunge in net profit to $257 million for the year to June 30 amid a collapse in lithium prices, which he said had deepened since July 1.
"We suspect that at these price levels, this will be a very difficult price point for many of the converters and suppliers in the industry," he said.
Revenue dropped by more than two-thirds (69 per cent) to $1.3 billion from a year earlier, as the average realised lithium price fell by almost three-quarters (74 per cent) to US$1176 per tonne.
Pilbara did not declare a dividend and gave no signal of when they would resume.
"The cashflow for the period didn't support the payment of a dividend," chief financial officer Luke Bortoli said.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation slumped to $538 million, from $3.3 billion a year earlier, while the cash balance halved to $1.6 billion.
Spodumene concentrate production rose 17 per cent to 725,300 dry metric kilotonnes, and sales increased 16 per cent to 707.1 kilotonnes.
"We continue to see strong demand and performance with their contracts across all of our customers," Mr Henderson said.
"Pilbara has considered carefully our supply chain partners, with a focus on partnering with those whom we feel are amongst the strongest within the supply chain," he said.
The strategic objective to enter lithium chemical manufacturing had progressed as planned, with production commencing at the POSCO joint venture chemical plant in South Korea, he said.
"We also advanced our joint study with Ganfeng for a potential new downstream JV, which remains on track and aligned with our long-term growth strategy," he said.
In Australia, the Pilgangoora P680 Project crushing and ore sorting facility commenced commissioning in the June quarter, and the P1000 Project was on schedule and budget for the March quarter of 2025.
