Regis Resources Limited

Good day and welcome to the Regis Resources half-year results conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. I would also like to advise all participants that this call is being recorded. Thank you. I'd now like to welcome Jim Beyer, Managing Director and CEO to begin the conference. Jim, over to you.

Thanks, Paulie. Good morning, everyone, and thank you all for joining us for the Regis Resources December 22 half-year financial results. I'm just going to be referring to the slide pack, which I think if you're web-streaming, you'll see on your screen. I do understand it's a little bit delayed, so it probably wouldn't hurt if you've got your own copy sitting in front of you. I draw your attention to the disclaimer on slide two. and now, pardon me, ask for it to be on slide three. Look, the six months to the 31st of December have certainly provided some challenges for us, as not just us but across the industry, and we are pleased with the progress that's been made during the period. We now feel the company is well positioned to realise improved profit and cash flow margins in the second half of FY23. I do apologise. I did mean to say as well that I'm joined this morning by Anthony, with Anthony Rakiki, our Chief Financial Officer. So having said that, I'll now hand over to Anthony, who's going to give a rundown on a little bit more of the detail on the financials, the physicals and the financials. Thanks, Anthony. Over to you.

Good morning, everybody, and thank you, Jim. If you're looking at your slide packs, I'll start by bringing your attention to slide number four, which shows a summary of the key physicals, and we can see that the period delivered record half-year gold production, and that also translated into record gold sales revenue, which we'll see a bit later on. Period on period, our open-pit mine saw a reduction in the stripping ratios, and we expect to see that again going into the second half of FY23. At our underground mines, Rosemont continued to mature, and Garden Well fired its first The mills continue to perform well with stable throughput and recovery. In the second half, we're expecting a further increase in gold production as Garden Well Underground at Duketon and Havana Odin Pit at Tropicana reach commercial production in the coming months. Now turning to slide five. Slide five is a summary of the half-year results comparing to the December 21 half. And it shows the record gold sales revenue resulting from the gold production that we spoke about. Net cash flow from operating activities increased to $148 million despite the inflationary pressures that we're all experiencing. And the underlying EBITDA was $197 million. Additionally, the company made net realisable value write-downs to inventories of $19 million in the period, which is the difference between the underlying and statutory measures. On to slide six for the cash flow movements during the period. This chart highlights the investment being made into the future of the company. $180 million was invested across mine development, exploration and the McPhilemys project, as well as other property plant equipment. These investments are being made to reach the target of a 500,000 ounce per annum producer. The company finished the period with cash and bullion of $151 million. With strip ratios decreasing and gold production increasing, cash flows are expected to look much better in the second half. In addition to the increase in cash flows from operations, we're also expecting a $67 million tax refund in the second half. I now turn you to slide seven, and slide seven shows a reconciliation of the underlying EBITDA of $197 million to the statutory net loss after tax of $30 million. In line with the cash flow expectations, operating profit is also expected to increase in the second half, as we see increased production from Garden Well Underground at Duketon and Havana open bid at Tropicana. Moving on to slide eight. It discusses our balance sheet areas and shows that it's in pretty good shape. As far as debt goes, we've got $300 million of a secured debt facility, which matures in May 2024. Net debt at the end of the half, 31 December 22, was $149 million. We've commenced the process of refinancing our debt and we're in the process of appointing an advisor to assist in this critical piece of work. I'd also note the options for refinancing the debt will consider the funding requirements of the MCFILMS project. In other treasury management, I note that we continue to work down the hedge book and we finished at 31 December with 170,000 ounces outstanding. We'll keep delivering into that program over the next 16 months as they're scheduled. Thank you, and back to you, Jim.