Lumena Announces 2010 Interim Results

USA - English

• USA - English

    HONG KONG, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-Asia/ --



    Financial Highlights

                                   For the 6 months ended 30 June

                                            2010            2009        Change
                                     RMB million     RMB million            (%)
    Revenue                              1,022.4           592.3         +72.6
    Gross profit                           736.5           428.8         +71.8
    EBITDA                                 720.6           415.9         +73.3
    Profit before income tax               560.5           352.9         +58.8
    Profit attributable to
     owners for the period                 356.9           254.7         +40.1
    Basic earnings per share
     for profit attributable to
     the owners of the Company
     during the period
     (RMB cents)                  RMB18.34 cents  RMB16.42 cents         +11.7
    Proposed interim dividend
     (per share)                     HK5.2 cents              --           N/A

    Gross profit margin (%)                72.0%           72.4%  -0.4% points
    EBITDA margin (%)                      70.5%           70.2%  +0.3% points

Lumena Resources Corp. ("Lumena" or the "Company"; HKEx Stock Code: 67), together with its subsidiaries (collectively, the "Company"), the second largest thenardite producer in the world*, today announced its interim results for the 6 months ended 30 June 2010.

For the 6 months ended 30 June 2010, the Company's revenue increased to approximately RMB1,022.4 million (1H 2009: RMB592.3 million), representing an increase of approximately 72.6% as compared to the corresponding period in 2009. Gross profit of the Company amounted to RMB736.5 million (1H 2009: RMB428.8 million) for the 6 months ended 30 June 2010, representing an increase of approximately 71.8% year-on-year. The overall gross margin of the Company slightly decreased by approximately 0.4% points to 72.0% (1H 2009: 72.4%) for the 6 months ended 30 June 2010. Profit attributable to owners of the Company during the period amounted to RMB356.9 million, up by 40.1% as compared to the same period in 2009 (1H 2009: RMB254.7 million). Basic earnings per share for profit attributable to owners of the Company during the period amounted to RMB18.34 cents (1H 2009: RMB16.42 cents), up by 11.7% year-on-year. The Board of Directors recommends and declares an interim dividend of HK5.2 cents per share for the six months ended 30 June 2010.

* in terms of production capacity as of December 31, 2008, according to

Behre Dolbear, an independent market research consultant

During the review period, the Company further enhanced its revenue portfolio. Revenue contributed by high-margin medical thenardite accounted for 43.6% of the Company's total revenue (1H 2009: 21.6%). Specialty thenardite and powder thenardite products accounted for 49.3% and 7.1% respectively of the total revenue in the first half of 2010. Medical, specialty and powder thenardite respectively generated revenue of RMB445.6 million, RMB504.3 million and RMB72.5 million in the first half of 2010, representing an increase of 248.9%, 25.6% and 14.7% respectively as compared to the same period in 2009.

Mr. Zhang Daming, Executive Director and CEO of Lumena, said, "In the wake of industrialization and continuous economic expansion as a result of a gradual recovery of the global economy after the financial crisis, demand for thenardite is on the rise. China's thenardite products have absolute competitive advantages in terms of quality and price as compared to other thenardite products in Asian market. The proximity to high growth Asian markets provides the Chinese thenardite producers with great potentials of business opportunities. As a leading enterprise in the thenardite industry, we are able to capture business opportunities and achieved outstanding results."

During the review period, the Company's four mining area operated in good condition. Dahongshan Mining Area produced approximately 335,579 tonnes of powder and medical thenardite. For Guangji Mining Area which produces specialty thenardite, its production capacity has been increased from 1,000,000 tonnes per annual (tpa) in 2009 to 1,100,000 tpa in 2010. 546,472 tonnes of thenardite was produced in the review period. After receiving the GMP certification successfully in December 2009, the new production facility for medical thenardite of 200,000 tpa in Muma Mining Area commenced commercial operation in January 2010 and produced approximately 108,264 tonnes of thenardite in the review period. The Company completed the acquisition of Yuegou Mining Area by 3Q 2009. The new production facility for animal feed grade thenardite began trial production in August 2010 and it is expected to commence commercial operation in September 2010, with a total production capacity of 300,000 tpa.

Looking forward, the application areas for thenardite products will continue to expand, and thenardite will become applicable in more industries. The prospect and future growth potential of thenardite industry is highly promising. In order to effectively capture the opportunities, Lumena will consolidate its development efforts so as to further enhance its competitive advantages in the market.

"As a leading specialty thenardite producer, the Company will persist to maintain its product quality, so as to consolidate its position in the industry. With high grade thenardite reserve, and equipped with advanced mining and production technologies, Lumena is the only medical thenardite manufacturer with the requisite licenses and GMP certification in the PRC. On the other hand, we will continue to push ahead the expansion of medical thenardite business and develop the clinical application of medical thenardite. Our medical thenardite business will be extended downward through introducing clinical-use thenardite to the market. We will continue to look for suitable thenardite operators for merger and acquisition opportunities as well, so as to actively expand our production capacity and further increase our market share in the industry. We are confident about our future prospects leveraging our all-round competitive edges in terms of thenardite reserves, products quality and R&D capability. We are dedicated to deliver outstanding results and bring fruitful return to our investors," Mr. Zhang concluded.

About Lumena Resources Corp.

Lumena focuses its operations on the mining, processing and manufacturing of natural thenardite products, and is the second largest thenardite producer in the world in terms of production capacity as of 31 December 2008note 1. Equipped with the world's largest single line production facility, the Company produces high quality thenardite products, including powder thenardite, specialty thenardite and medical thenardite. Lumena operates two captive underground glauberite mines in the Dahongshan Mining Area and the Guangji Mining Area and have acquired mining rights in Muma Mining Area in Sichuan Province. There is a total of approximately 56.0 million tonnes of proved and probable thenardite reserves pursuant to the JORC Code, located in these three mining areasnote 2,in year 2009. Its reserves are higher than the average grade in China, according to JT Boyd.

    *Note 1: Behre Dolbear & Company (USA) Inc., an independent market
             research consultant
    *Note 2: John T. Boyd Company

    For further information, please contact:

    Porda International (Finance) PR Company Limited
     Ms. Sharis Siu
     Tel:   +852-3150-6771
     Email: [email protected]

     Ms. Fiona Ko
     Tel:   +852-3150-6750
     Email: [email protected]

     Ms. Ellie Mok
     Tel:   +852-3150-6727
     Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Lumena Resources Corp.