Afarak Group Plc - Financial Statement Release

AFARAK GROUP PLC'S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS REVIEW FOR 1 JANUARY - 31 DECEMBER 2015

07:00 London, 09:00 Helsinki, 16 February 2016 - Afarak Group Plc ("Afarak" or
"the Company") (LSE: AFRK, OMX: AFAGR) Interim Report

AFARAK GROUP PLC'S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS REVIEW FOR 1 JANUARY - 31 DECEMBER 2015

FULL YEAR HIGHLIGHTS (January-December 2015):

- Revenue increased by 8.7% to EUR 187.7 (FY/2014: 172.7) million
- Processed material sold increased by 7.0% to 104,150 (FY/2014: 97,351) tonnes
- EBITDA was EUR 17.2 (FY/2014: 8.4) million and the EBITDA margin was 9.2%
(FY/2014: 4.9%)
- EBIT was EUR 9.9 (FY/2014: 1.7) million and the EBIT margin was 5.3% (FY/2014:
1.0%)
- Profit for the period from continuing operations totalled EUR 7.8 (FY/2014:
0.5) million
- Full year ferrochrome production increased by 2.1% to 103,591 (FY/2014:
101,461) tonnes
- Tonnage mined increased by 51.8% to 461,781 (FY/2014: 304,199) tonnes
- Cash flow from operations was EUR 12.5 (FY/2014: 5.1) million

Q4 HIGHLIGHTS (October - December 2015):

- Revenue increased by 18.2% to EUR 49.2 (Q4/2014: 41.6) million
- Processed material sold increased by 32.7% to 31,137 (Q4/2014: 23,465) tonnes
- EBITDA was EUR 3.7 (Q4/2014: 0.0) million and the EBITDA margin was 7.5%
(Q4/2014: 0.0%)
- EBIT was EUR 1.8 (Q4/2014: -1.1) million and the EBIT margin was 3.7%
(Q4/2014: -2.8%)
- Profit for continuing operations totalled EUR 0.8 (Q4/2014: -0.3) million
- Ferrochrome production decreased by 5.5% to 28,938 (Q4/2014: 30,622) tonnes
- Tonnage mined increased by 47.3% to 95,587 (Q4/2014: 64,875) tonnes
- Cash flow from operations was EUR 0.4 (Q4/2014: -4.3) million and liquid funds
at 31 December were
  EUR 19.6 (31 December 2014: 13.3) (30 September 2015: 22.3) million

DIVIDEND PROPOSAL

The Board of Directors will propose a new dividend policy to the Annual General
Meeting, which will be held on 11 May 2016. The Group will in future review it
distributions to shareholders either through a capital redemption or dividend
twice yearly at the time of the full year and the half year announcements. This
new policy will allow the board to take prudent decisions based on market
conditions whilst continuing to share its positive results with shareholders. In
line with this new policy the board will be recommending a EUR0.02 per share
distribution where EUR0.01 will be paid in May 2016 and subject to market
conditions a further EUR0.01 will be paid in August 2016.

                                   +-----+            +------+             |
                                   |     |            |      |             |
                                   |Q4/15|Q4/14 Change|FY2015|FY2014 Change|
 KEY FIGURES (EUR million)         |     |            |      |             |
-----------------------------------+-----+------------+------+-------------+
 Revenue                           | 49.2| 41.6  18.2%| 187.7| 172.7   8.7%|
-----------------------------------+-----+------------+------+-------------+
 EBITDA                            |  3.7|  0.0       |  17.2|   8.4       |
                                   |     |            |      |             |
 EBITDA margin                     | 7.5%| 0.0%       |  9.2%|  4.9%       |
-----------------------------------+-----+------------+------+-------------+
 EBIT                              |  1.8| -1.1       |   9.9|   1.7       |
                                   |     |            |      |             |
 EBIT margin                       | 3.7%|-2.8%       |  5.3%|  1.0%       |
-----------------------------------+-----+------------+------+-------------+
 Earnings before taxes             |  0.5| -1.3       |   6.5|   0.5       |
                                   |     |            |      |             |
 Earnings margin                   | 0.9%|-3.1%       |  3.5%|  0.3%       |
-----------------------------------+-----+------------+------+-------------+
 Profit for continuing operations  |  0.8| -0.3       |   7.8|   0.5       |
                                   |     |            |      |             |
 Profit for discontinued operations|  0.8|  1.8       |   0.8|   1.8       |
                                   |     |            |      |             |
 Profit                            |  1.6|  1.4       |   8.5|   2.2       |
                                   |     |            |      |             |
 Earnings per share, basic, EUR    | 0.01| 0.01       |  0.03|  0.01       |
-----------------------------------+-----+------------+------+-------------+

Commenting on the full year and fourth quarter results of 2015, Alistair
Ruiters, CEO, said:

"I am very pleased to report an outstanding performance by Afarak in 2015. The
Group reported very positive results in the first half of the year. This was
followed by the seasonal market slowdown during the summer period. Afarak though
performed strongly in the fourth quarter selling higher volumes of processed
material compared to the comparable period last year. In fact year on year we
succeeded in increasing sales in processed material by 7.0%. The introduction of
a bulk sample mining at Vlakpoort in the second quarter and the uninterrupted
operation of Mecklenburg for the year enabled the FerroAlloys segment to
increase mined tonnages by 53.8%. Our Speciality Alloys segment also increased
mined output by 37%.

The Group's revenue for the past year increased by 8.7% year -on-year. Afarak's
EBITDA doubled when compared to the previous year as EBITDA improved both in the
Speciality Alloys segment and in the Ferro Alloys segment.

Whilst global sentiment for commodities consistently weakened throughout the
year, the market for our Speciality Alloy products was stable, with prices in
Euro-terms remaining firm. The uncertainty in the market towards the end of
2015 has made us more cautious ahead of 2016. As a result, we have actively
managed our stockpiles successfully reducing our inventory and increasing our
cash position.

The Group succeeded in reporting higher EBITDA and EBIT levels and our focus
remains on generating cash and increasing profits. This is reflected both in the
Group's results over the past years and since entering the minerals business in
2008, culminating in our strongest year ever in 2015. Our balance sheet and cash
position remains strong and we believe this will offer some protection against
the headwinds we may encounter in the year ahead.

Afarak remains committed to its strategy of managing production levels,
increasing its range of speciality products and diversifying its geographic
spread of customers. Given the headwinds in the sector, we will continue to
review our production costs and reorganise our structures to reduce overall
expenditure."

Disclosure procedure

Afarak follows the disclosure procedure enabled by Disclosure obligation of the
issuer (7/2013) published by the Finnish Financial Supervision Authority, and
hereby publishes its Q4/2015 interim report enclosed to this stock exchange
release. The Interim Report is attached to this release and is also available on
the Company's website at www.afarak.com.

Investor Conference Call

Management will host an investor conference call in English on 16 February 2016
at 14.00 Finnish time, 12.00 UK time. Please dial-in at least 10 minutes
beforehand, quoting the reference: 38313.

Finnish number +358 (0)800 919 339
UK number +44 (0)844 762 0 762


AFARAK GROUP PLC
Alistair Ruiters
CEO


For additional information, please contact:

Afarak Group Plc
Alistair Ruiters, CEO, +358 50 372 1130, alistair.ruiters@afarak.com
Melvin Grima, Finance Director, +356 2122 1566, melvin.grima@afarak.com

Financial reports and other investor information are available on the Company's
website: www.afarak.com.

Afarak Group is a chrome mining and minerals producer focused on delivering
sustainable growth with a Speciality Alloys business in southern Europe and a
FerroAlloys business in South Africa. The Company is listed on NASDAQ Helsinki
(AFAGR) and the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (AFRK).

Distribution:
NASDAQ Helsinki
London Stock Exchange
main media
www.afarak.com


[HUG#1986351]

Attachments:

Afarak Group Q4 2015.pdf