Citi cuts PT, earnings view on Australia's Iluka after weak HY results, outlook

Iluka Resources

23/08/2023 23:02

** Analysts at Citi cut price target on Australian mineral
sands miner Iluka Resources Ltd  ILU.AX  to A$10.00 from A$11.80
    ** Brokerage cuts earnings estimates through to FY25 citing
weak zircon and synthetic rutile pricing outlook
    ** Citi cuts its FY23 net profit view by 15.5% to A$302.5
mln, and by 10% to A$303.4 mln for FY24 
    ** ILU's 1H23 profit was down 44.1% at A$203.8 mln ($132.04
mln) on low zircon sales and unfavourable product mix
    ** ILU announced a four-month production pause at one of its
synthetic rutile ovens at the Capel project in Western Australia
    ** Co also cut annual synthetic rutile output forecast to
255 thousand tonnes (kt) from 305 kt 
    ** Co lost 11.3% after announcing the results on Wednesday,
its worst day since July 2012
    ** Brokerage upgrades rating to "buy" from "neutral" saying
risk-reward is now "favourable enough" and more China stimulus
expected

($1 = 1.5434 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru)
 ((Sameer.Manekar@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar))