AMG Critical Materials N.V. (“AMG”, EURONEXT AMSTERDAM: “AMG”) reported second quarter 2023 revenue of $439 million, a 4% increase versus the second quarter of 2022. Second quarter 2023 EBITDA of $107 million was 32% higher than the second quarter of 2022.
Dr. Heinz Schimmelbusch, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO, said, “This is the fourth straight quarter in which AMG has exceeded $100 million of EBITDA. The $26 million, or 32%, EBITDA increase over the second quarter of 2022 was driven largely by our Clean Energy Materials segment, specifically AMG Lithium’s Brazilian operation with an EBITDA contribution of $89 million.
AMG’s liquidity as of June 30, 2023 was $586 million, with $391 million of unrestricted cash and $195 million of revolving credit availability. The Company will pay an interim 2023 dividend of €0.40 per ordinary share on or around August 9, 2023, to shareholders of record on August 1, 2023.
AMG Engineering signed $167 million in new orders during the second quarter of 2023, driven by strong orders of remelting and induction furnaces, representing a 2.48x book to bill ratio. AMG’s order backlog of $337 million as of June 30, 2023, which is the highest in AMG’s history. This is largely driven by the US aerospace market. Our second quarter 2023 US order intake has essentially doubled from our second quarter 2022 US order intake.
We continue to drive our lithium strategy forward and are pleased to announce that we have signed a mandate letter with KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH and with Citi to structure and arrange the financing for the construction of our proposed technical-grade lithium chemical plant in Brazil. The financing structure is expected to cover all the funding requirements and be supported by Euler Hermes (the German Export Credit Agency representing its government) under its Untied Loan Guarantee program for projects which deliver critical raw materials into Germany. This proposed financing is a cornerstone of our lithium strategy to be the premier supplier of battery-grade lithium hydroxide in Europe, and another important step towards an independent and sustainable lithium supply chain for Europe. In addition, this project conforms with AMG Brazil’s commitment to upgrade its operations to produce a higher value product, while significantly contributing to reducing CO2 emissions by lowering total volumes shipped.”
Strategic Highlights
Lithium
The lithium concentrate production expansion project in AMG Brazil is progressing as planned.
AMG signed a mandate letter with KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH and Citi to structure and arrange the financing for the construction of our proposed technical-grade lithium chemical plant in Brazil. The financing structure is expected to cover all the funding requirements and be supported by Euler Hermes (the German Export Credit Agency representing its government) under its Untied Loan Guarantee program for projects which deliver critical raw materials into Germany. This proposed financing is a cornerstone of our strategy to be the premier supplier of battery-grade lithium hydroxide in Europe.
AMG Lithium’s hydroxide refinery in Bitterfeld, Germany, Europe’s first, is expected to start commissioning for the first 20,000-ton module expected in the fourth quarter of 2023.
AMG Lithium signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) in May 2023 with Fortum Battery Recycling Oy (“Fortum”), a Nordic clean energy provider. Fortum’s new commercial scale hydrometallurgical plant is able to efficiently recover valuable metals from old electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries. The lithium product recovered by Fortum will be delivered to AMG Lithium for further processing.
Vanadium
The new vanadium spent catalyst recycling facility in Zanesville, Ohio, is currently running at full capacity and targeting full run rate production for the second half of 2023.
AMG’s innovative lithium vanadium battery (“LIVA”) projects for industrial power management applications outlined at our Capital Markets Day are under various stages of construction.
In January 2023, AMG started building a vanadium electrolyte plant at its subsidiary, AMG Titanium, in Nuremberg, Germany. The target capacity is 6,000 m³ vanadium electrolyte, which will serve the electricity storage market. Production is expected to start at the end of this year.
Shell & AMG Recycling B.V. (“SARBV”) project development in the Middle East are progressing. The Supercenter project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is completing the FEL3 feasibility study later this year.
Financial Highlights
Revenue increased by 4% to $439 million in the second quarter of 2023 from $424 million in the second quarter of 2022.
EBITDA was $107 million in the second quarter of 2023, up 32% versus the second quarter 2022 EBITDA of $81 million.
Annualized return on capital employed was 35.7% for the first six months of 2023, compared to 25.5% for the same period in 2022.
Cash from operations was $60 million for the second quarter of 2023, compared to $40 million in the second quarter of 2022, driven by the high profitability of AMG Lithium in Brazil.
Net income attributable to shareholders for the second quarter of 2023 was $43 million, yielding $1.28 diluted earnings per share compared to $0.91 in the same period in 2022.
AMG’s liquidity as of June 30, 2023 was $586 million, with $391 million of unrestricted cash and $195 million of revolving credit availability.
AMG declares an interim dividend of €0.40 per ordinary share, to be paid in the third quarter of 2023.
AMG Clean Energy Materials’ revenue increased 30% compared to the second quarter of 2022, to $208 million, driven mainly by increased sales volumes and increased prices in lithium concentrates.
Gross profit for the quarter increased 58% compared to the same period in the prior year, primarily due to the higher sales volumes across the segment as well as higher lithium pricing.
SG&A expenses in the second quarter of 2023 were higher than the same period in 2022 at $21 million, mainly driven by the increase in headcount related to the lithium and vanadium expansion projects, as well as higher employee benefit costs.
The second quarter 2023 EBITDA increased 65%, to $96 million, from $58 million in the second quarter of 2022, due to the improved gross profit as noted above.
AMG Vanadium’s production was negatively impacted by a defective fan provided by a supplier at our new Zanesville facility. AMG has commenced an arbitration claim seeking compensatory damages, which include costs incurred and lost profitability.
During the second quarter of 2023, a total of 28,870 dry metric tons (“dmt”) of lithium concentrates was sold. The second quarter experienced increased sales volumes due to shipping schedule variances which will negatively impact the third quarter. The average realized sales price was $3,633/dmt CIF China for the quarter. The average cost per ton for the quarter was $547/dmt CIF China. The cost per ton is higher than the first quarter due to lower volumes and pricing in tantalum concentrate in the quarter. The additional lithium concentrate shipments and slightly higher costs in tantalum concentrate resulted in quarterly EBITDA for AMG Brazil of $89 million.
AMG Critical Minerals’ revenue for the second quarter of 2023 decreased by 45%, to $57 million, mainly due to lower volumes across the segment largely driven by the silicon metal plant operating one furnace during the quarter, as discussed in detail below. The segment also suffered from a slowdown in the European industrial economy.
Gross profit of $8 million in the second quarter was 44% lower compared to the second quarter of 2022, largely due to the lower volumes in the current quarter.
SG&A expenses in the second quarter of 2023 increased by 8%, to $8 million, compared to the same period in 2022. This was largely driven by higher professional fees in the current quarter.
The second quarter 2023 EBITDA decreased 83% compared to the same period in 2022, to $2 million, due to the lower gross profit as noted above.
AMG Silicon operated one of four furnaces throughout the second quarter and plans to operate one furnace for the remainder of 2023. The operational parameters of the silicon business will continue to be reviewed on an ongoing basis. Due to the noted interruptions in silicon operations, the financial impact of the business will be excluded from EBITDA during this period of abnormal operations. However, AMG Silicon generated $9 million in cash flow from operating activities during the quarter driven by the receipt of energy sales made in the fourth quarter of 2022.
AMG Critical Materials Technologies’ second quarter 2023 revenue increased by $13 million, or 8%, compared to the same period in 2022. This improvement was driven by strong revenues in our engineering unit, as well as higher sales volumes of titanium alloys and chrome metal, partially offset by lower chrome metal pricing.
SG&A expenses increased by 8% in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, due to additional personnel at AMG Engineering and AMG LIVA corresponding to the record order backlog and business development, respectively.
AMG Critical Materials Technologies’ EBITDA was $10 million during the quarter compared to $14 million in the same period of 2022. The decrease was primarily due to lower chrome prices in the second quarter of 2023 partially offset by higher profitability in Engineering and Titanium.
AMG Engineering signed $167 million in new orders during the second quarter of 2023, driven by strong orders of remelting and induction furnaces, representing a 2.48x book to bill ratio. Order backlog was $337 million as of June 30, 2023, the highest in AMG’s history.
Financial Review
Tax
AMG recorded an income tax expense of $27 million in the second quarter of 2023, compared to $23 million in the same period in 2022. This variance was mainly driven by higher profitability in AMG Lithium at its Brazil operation, offset by US tax expense and movements in the Brazilian real. The effects of the Brazilian real caused a $2 million tax benefit in the second quarter of 2023, compared to a $4 million tax expense in the same period in 2022. Fluctuations in the Brazilian real exchange rate impact the valuation of the Company’s net deferred tax positions related to our operations in Brazil.
AMG paid taxes of $35 million in the second quarter of 2023, compared to tax payments of $9 million in the second quarter of 2022. The higher cash taxes in the current quarter were a result of tax payments tracking the consistent upward trend in Brazil results.
AMG Vanadium had a $3.7 million non-cash expense during the second quarter of 2023. This is a result of inventory cost adjustments associated with declining prices and inventory specification issues due to the acquisition and testing of global refinery waste which has been adjusted in EBITDA.
AMG ended the second quarter in a $280 million net debt position. This decrease versus year-end 2022 was mainly due to higher cash balances from strong operating cash flow.
AMG continued to maintain a strong balance sheet and adequate sources of liquidity during the second quarter. As of June 30, 2023, the Company had $391 million in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents and $195 million available on its revolving credit facility. As such, AMG had $586 million of total liquidity as of June 30, 2023.
Net Finance Costs
AMG’s second quarter 2023 net finance cost was $7 million compared to $12 million in the second quarter of 2022. This variance was mainly driven by higher interest income earned, due to the overall increase in global interest rates, and an increase in cash and cash equivalents balances as well as foreign exchange losses in the prior period. Additionally, in today’s rising rate environment, AMG continues to benefit from its low-cost fixed-rate debt facilities. AMG has an average interest rate charge across its two main debt instruments of 5%.
Outlook
Given the global economic uncertainty and the slowdown in China, current spot prices across AMG’s critical materials portfolio are significantly below the prices we experienced when we announced our initial guidance for 2023 in November 2022. The price of lithium carbonate in November 2022, the date of our $400 million EBITDA guidance, has now almost halved and our other relevant portfolio prices are down an average of 25%.
Therefore, we have changed our full year EBITDA guidance for 2023 from “exceeding $400 million in EBITDA” to “a range between $350 million to $380 million in EBITDA.” An EBITDA in this range represents the highest EBITDA in the history of AMG.
As previously disclosed, third quarter profitability will be negatively impacted by lower volumes associated with the spodumene expansion project. Volumes will recover in the fourth quarter as the project begins to ramp up.
Regarding our long-term guidance, we are extremely pleased with the advancement of our strategic projects. We are moving forward with our lithium concentrate expansion in Brazil. We’ve signed a mandate letter to fund the chemical upgrader in Brazil, and our lithium hydroxide refinery in Bitterfeld, Germany, is under construction, with commissioning for the first 20,000-ton module expected in the fourth quarter of 2023.
These transformational projects in lithium, our newly complete ferrovanadium spent catalyst recycling facility in Ohio, and the continued ramp-up in our AMG Critical Materials Technologies segment will drive increased volumes across our Clean Energy Materials segment and confirm our confidence in our long-term guidance. Our long-term guidance therefore remains unchanged at an EBITDA level of $650 million, or more, in 5 years, or earlier.
About AMG
AMG’s mission is to provide critical materials and related process technologies to advance a less carbon-intensive world. To this end, AMG is focused on the production and development of energy storage materials such as lithium, vanadium, and tantalum. In addition, AMG’s products include highly engineered systems to reduce CO2 in aerospace engines, as well as critical materials addressing CO2 reduction in a variety of other end use markets.
AMG Clean Energy Materials segment combines AMG’s recycling and mining operations, producing materials for infrastructure and energy storage solutions while reducing the CO2 footprint of both suppliers and customers. AMG Clean Energy Materials segment spans the vanadium, lithium, and tantalum value chains. AMG Critical Materials Technologies segment combines AMG’s leading vacuum furnace technology line with high-purity materials serving global leaders in the aerospace sector. AMG Critical Minerals segment consists of AMG’s mineral processing operations in antimony, graphite, and silicon metal.
With approximately 3,600 employees, AMG operates globally with production facilities in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, China, Mexico, Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, and Mozambique, and has sales and customer service offices in Japan
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