Struggling iron ore miner Ferrexpo has reported pre-tax losses of 11 million US dollars (£8.3 million) for the six months to June 30, a sharp improvement from losses of 186.9 million dollars (£141.3 million) a year earlier, as revenues more than halved to 196.4 million dollars (£148.5 million).
Emergency fundraising secured
The results come days after the group secured investor backing for a 100 million US dollar (£76 million) emergency fundraising to fund daily operations and prevent it running out of cash at the end of October.
London-listed Ferrexpo saw trading in its shares resume earlier in the month following a four-month suspension after it published long-delayed annual results.
Sanctions and withheld VAT refunds
The firm has had sanctions placed on it by Ukraine’s government after being caught up in a battle between Ukraine and the firm’s largest shareholder and billionaire founder Kostyantyn Zhevago.
VAT refunds due to Ferrexpo have been withheld by Ukraine’s tax authorities since March, which has left the company rapidly running out of cash. Its cash position shrank to around 30 million dollars (£22.7 million) at the end of June, down from 58 million dollars (£43.9 million) at the end of last year.
Operations impacted by attacks
Interim executive chairman Lucio Genovese said: “The first six months of 2026 have been another exceptionally difficult period for Ferrexpo, during which the business and its people demonstrated a continued ability to adapt and respond to a series of operational, financial and legal challenges that were outside its control.”
He added: “The year began with waves of intensive attacks on Ukraine’s electricity generation and transmission infrastructure, which forced us to temporarily suspend operations. Following some improvements in the availability and price of electricity, we were able to restart limited production by bringing one of the group’s four pellet lines back online.”
Genovese said the fundraise had “materially strengthened the group’s liquidity position, providing additional financial resilience and greater flexibility to manage the continuing operational and financial pressures facing the business”.
But he warned: “It does not however remove the underlying challenges as a result of the continued withholding of VAT refunds, the war in Ukraine, constraints on logistics and energy infrastructure, and the need to maintain disciplined management of cash and working capital.”
