Altius Minerals Corporation (TSX: ALS; OTCQX: ATUSF) (“Altius” or the “Corporation”) reports first quarter 2024 revenue of $13.9 million compared to $22.7 million in Q1 2023. Attributable royalty revenue(1) of $17.4 million ($0.37 per share(1)) compares to $16.0 million in the prior quarter and to $21.4 million ($0.45 per share) reported in Q1 2023.
Brian Dalton, CEO commented, "The decline in revenue on a year over year basis primarily reflects the closure of the Genesee Mine at the end of 2023, and the moderation of realized potash prices following a prior period of very strong prices. We are pleased to see that renewable energy revenue, originally designed to replace coal royalty revenue when the renewable segment was founded, has grown 148% year over year. We are also excited to note positive progress relating to our Kami and Silicon royalties during the quarter, each of which holds the potential to add meaningfully to the value of our portfolio."
Our potash operators have both reported a return to higher volumes in 2024 while prices have been stable since Q2 2023. We continue to believe that prices remain below what is required to incentivize growth investment and to offset projected medium and longer term market supply deficits as demand growth continues to compound.
The most significant highlights for our royalty portfolio came from our Project Generation business with the release of the Kami project study and the announcement of increased resources and expected production levels at the Silicon royalty project. These two development stage royalties each hold the potential to meaningfully drive our growth profile for decades to come".
Operating Royalty Portfolio Performance
Summary of attributable royalty revenue |
Q1 2024 |
Q4 2023 |
Q1 2023 |
|||||
Base and battery metals |
$ |
5,344 |
$ |
4,420 |
$ |
4,869 |
||
Potash |
|
5,130 |
|
5,023 |
|
9,032 |
||
Renewable energy |
|
3,337 |
|
1,829 |
|
1,345 |
||
Iron ore# |
|
1,683 |
|
1,682 |
|
1,870 |
||
Thermal (electrical) coal |
|
– |
|
1,225 |
|
3,002 |
||
Interest and other |
|
1,941 |
|
1,795 |
|
1,275 |
||
Attributable royalty revenue |
$ |
17,435 |
$ |
15,974 |
$ |
21,393 |
||
(#) Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corporation dividends |
Quarterly Highlights
Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $12.4 million ($0.26 per share(1)) during Q1 2024 compares to $19.1 million ($0.40 per share) during the prior year quarter. The adjusted EBITDA margin of 71% in the current quarter was lower than the comparable period and was impacted by higher professional fees associated with the Silicon arbitration. The Mineral Royalties segment had an EBITDA margin of 75% and 79% for the current and prior year quarters respectively. The Renewable Royalties segment had an EBITDA margin of 75% and 36% for the current and prior year quarters respectively.
Q1 2024 adjusted operating cash flow(1) of $5.5 million ($0.12 per share(1)) compares to $4.5 million ($0.09 per share) in 2023. The increase is largely reflective of lower cash taxes paid.
Net earnings of $4.8 million ($0.10 per share) for Q1 2024 compares to net earnings of $5.5 million ($0.11 per share) in Q1 2023. Loss in joint venture includes $1.9 million of losses associated with Great Bay Renewables' equity investment in an early-stage renewable energy development entity in addition to interest expense of $1.6 million associated with Great Bay's recent credit facility. Adjusted net earnings per share(1) of $0.07 in the current quarter is consistent with the first quarter of 2023. The main adjusting items in the current quarter are unrealized and realized gains on derivatives related to share purchase warrants on junior mining equities and foreign exchange losses.
Adjusted Net Earnings |
Three months ended |
||||||
March 31, 2024 |
March 31, 2023 |
||||||
|
|
|
|||||
Net earnings attributable to common shareholders |
$ |
4,719 |
|
$ |
5,061 |
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
Addback (deduct): |
|
|
|||||
Unrealized (gain) loss on fair value adjustment of derivatives |
|
(1,188 |
) |
|
213 |
|
|
Foreign exchange loss (gain) |
|
747 |
|
|
(247 |
) |
|
Exploration and evaluation assets abandoned or impaired |
|
– |
|
|
590 |
|
|
Realized (gain) on disposal of derivatives |
|
(916 |
) |
|
– |
|
|
Gain on disposal of mineral property |
|
– |
|
|
(107 |
) |
|
Non-recurring other income |
|
– |
|
|
(2,820 |
) |
|
Tax impact |
|
100 |
|
|
750 |
|
|
Adjusted Net Earnings |
$ |
3,462 |
|
$ |
3,440 |
|
Liquidity and Capital Allocation Summary
Cash and cash equivalents at March 31, 2024 were $101.5 million, compared to $130.4 million at the end of 2023. Cash, excluding $91.0 million held by ARR, was $10.5 million.
At March 31, 2024 the approximate market value of various public equity holdings included:
During the first quarter the Corporation made scheduled debt repayments of $2.0 million and paid total dividends of $3.6 million. The Corporation also expended $8.2 million during the quarter for the repurchase and cancellation of 429,100 shares under its Normal Course Issuer Bid. At March 31, 2024 the Corporation carried a balance of $30.0 million under its fixed rate term debt facility and $81.8 million under its floating rate revolving credit facilities.
Dividend Declaration
The Corporation’s board of directors has declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, which represents a 12.5% increase over recent quarterly levels. The current quarterly dividend is payable to all shareholders of record at the close of business on May 31, 2024. The dividend is expected to be paid on or about June 14, 2024.
This dividend is eligible for payment in common shares under the Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) announced by press release May 20, 2020, and available to shareholders who are Canadian residents or residents of countries outside the United States.
In order to be eligible to participate in respect of the June 14, 2024 dividend, non-registered shareholders must provide instruction to their brokerage and registered shareholders must provide completed enrollment forms to the transfer agent by May 24, 2024, five business days prior to record date. Stock market purchases made under the DRIP for the June 14, 2024 payment will be satisfied by issuance from treasury at the 5 day volume weighted average price ending at the close of trading the day before payment date. Shareholders who have already provided instruction to be enrolled previously will continue to be enrolled unless they direct otherwise. For more information, please see Altius Minerals Corporation Dividend Reinvestment Plan. Participation in the DRIP is optional and will not impact any cash dividends payable to shareholders who do not elect to participate in the DRIP. The declaration, timing and payment of future dividends will largely depend on the Corporation’s financial results as well as other factors. Dividends paid by Altius on its common shares are eligible dividends for Canadian income tax purposes unless otherwise stated.
Non GAAP Financial Measures
First Quarter Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast Details
Date: May 09, 2024
Time: 9:00 AM ET
Toll Free Dial-In Number: (+1) 800-864-5102
International Dial-In Number: (+1) 289-514-5100
Conference Call Title and ID: Altius Minerals Q1 2024 Financial Results, ID 87932
Webcast Link: Q1 2024 Financial Results
About Altius
Altius’s strategy is to create per share growth through a diversified portfolio of royalty assets that relate to long life, high margin operations. This strategy further provides shareholders with exposures that are well aligned with sustainability-related global growth trends including the electricity generation transition from fossil fuel to renewables, transportation electrification, reduced emissions from steelmaking and increasing agricultural yield requirements. These macro-trends each hold the potential to cause increased demand for many of Altius’s commodity exposures including copper, renewable based electricity, several key battery metals (lithium, nickel and cobalt), clean iron ore, and potash. In addition, Altius runs a successful Project Generation business that originates mineral projects for sale to developers in exchange for equity positions and royalties. Altius has 46,452,252 common shares issued and outstanding that are listed on Canada’s Toronto Stock Exchange. It is included in each of the S&P/TSX Small Cap, the S&P/TSX Global Mining, and the S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats indices.
Forward-looking information
This news release contains forward-looking information. The statements are based on reasonable assumptions and expectations of management and Altius provides no assurance that actual events will meet management's expectations. In certain cases, forward‐looking information may be identified by such terms as "anticipates", "believes", "could", "estimates", "expects", "may", "shall", "will", or "would". Although Altius believes the expectations expressed in such forward‐looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Altius does not undertake to update any forward-looking information contained herein except in accordance with securities regulations.
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