Lynas share price slides on rare earths revenue headwinds

Female miner in hard hat and safety vest on laptop with mining drill in background.

The Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) share price is sliding today.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rare earths miner closed yesterday trading for $6.40. In morning trade on Wednesday, shares are swapping hands for $6.34, down 0.9%.

For some context, the ASX 200 is up 0.4% at this same time.

This comes following the release of Lynas’ quarterly update for the three months ending 31 March (Q3 FY 2024).

Here are the highlights.

Lynas share price slips on revenue pressure

The Lynas share price is dipping after the company’s rare earth production for the three months came in at 3,545 tonnes of rare earths oxides (REOs), including 1,724 tonnes of neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr). That’s up from 1,566 tonnes of REOs and 901 tonnes of NdPr in Q2 FY 2024. But production remains well down from Q3 FY 2023.

“Our Malaysian team managed a very successful production ramp up after the significant upgrade works which were completed in the previous quarter,” management noted.

Sales revenue for the three months was $101 million with sales receipts of $108 million. Sales revenue dropped from $136 million in the prior quarter. That was largely due to a lower realised NdPr price.

Management also noted revenue was impacted by its decision to “hold both NdPr and SEG inventory rather than sell into the low price environment”. They noted that market prices have started to increase in April.

Turning to the major projects that could impact the Lynas share price down the road, the miner’s Mt Weld Expansion Project is on schedule with construction activities progressing as planned.

The company said its staged commissioning approach “reduces commissioning risk and enables a step-up in production capacity in the latter part of this calendar year whilst the remainder of the plant is constructed”.

Meanwhile, final commissioning and initial production activities continued through the quarter at Lynas’ Kalgoorlie facility.

Detailed engineering, procurement and approvals activities also continued for the miner’s US Rare Earths Processing Facility.

Lynas said:

The project’s 30% engineering design review was also completed during the period, and a ramp up in procurement activities is now in progress. Earthworks are expected to commence at the Seadrift site by the end of this calendar year subject to all necessary approvals being in place.

On the expenses front, Lynas reported spending $100 million on capex. exploration and development, down from $182 million last quarter.

As for the balance sheet, the ASX 200 rare earths miner had closing cash and short-term deposits of $617 million at the end of the quarter. That’s down from $686 million in the prior quarter and down from $1.1 billion a year ago.

How has the ASX 200 rare earths miner been tracking?

The Lynas share price is down 5% over the past year but has rebounded 10% in the past month.

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.