A MESSAGE FROM PYBAR CEO – JAMES GLOVER
April 20, 2024Our CEO James Glover shares an update on our positive first half FY24 and sale of PYBAR to Thiess.
Over the last few months we have been busy with the award of several new and/ or significant contract extensions, the announcement of the Employee of the Year award, a positive turn around in our first half FY24 financial results and the announcement of the sale of PYBAR to Thiess.
PYBAR sale to Thiess
Subject to the successful completion of a share sale agreement, Metarock will transfer 100% of its shareholding in PYBAR to Thiess at the end of May 2024. For the PYBAR team, it will remain business as usual, however with new ownership it provides us with greater access to capital and the ability to leverage off Thiess’s domestic and international footprint and target new growth opportunities both at home and abroad.
For the Thiess group, PYBAR will provide in house hard rock underground mining expertise and assist in delivering their diversification strategy by reducing their revenue from thermal coal and increased exposure to minerals and metals markets.
This is a very exciting time for both PYBAR and Thiess, and I look forward to providing further updates over the coming weeks and months ahead.
Business Update
In NSW, we saw the completion of the Peak contract in March 2023, and the commencement of the Maxwell Drift Development project in July 2023, a contract extension at the Dargues Gold Mine through to mine closure in 2024, and new raise drilling work at Northparkes and Federation.
It is fair to say that the Maxwell Drift project has been challenging as we attempt to introduce a hard rock drill and blast development methodology to a coal mine, which has seen us successfully convert two Sandvik jumbos to full electric over hydraulic operation to achieve full coal certification, as well as adapt coal certified loaders for development bogging/haulage applications.
Further north in Queensland, we secured new raise drilling work at Kidston where we recently completed four shafts as part of the Kidston Pumped Hydro Renewable Energy project. At our Black Rock contract, we secured a critical extension to the current development and production scope through to July 2024.
Meanwhile, in Tasmania we kicked off the Rosebery shotcrete and CRF contract which was subsequently followed by a campaign of production drilling work at Avebury, and then the most recent contract award being the Savage River Decline project.
Subsequently, our first half year results were announced to the market in February 2024, which saw PYBAR produce a strong EBITDA result which was a significant improvement from the previous year. It is pleasing to note that we no longer have any loss making projects within our contract portfolio. We would not have been able to achieve these significant results were it not for the dedication of our loyal staff and employees.
In December, we celebrated the announcement of the Employee of the Year which was awarded to Chris Clement. It was pleasing to see that we received a number of nominations for the Employee of the Year award from our newer sites and it’s great to see that our people are embracing the PYBAR Values of SAFETY, SERVICE, RESPECT and RESULTS.
Over recent weeks, I have been fortunate to visit a number of our sites and it always gives me great pleasure to engage with our teams and witness first-hand the great work we are doing and the relationships we are forging with our respective clients.
Tendering activity throughout recent months has been extremely busy with opportunities arising in both the Eastern and Western states.
Safety is a key area that we can continue to improve upon and will do via the elevation of our safety performance. We shall continue to enhance our critical risk identification and control and verification processes.