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Working harder to earn less was the story of Australian iron ore miner Fortescue in the financial year to June 30, reporting earlier today that increased production failed to offset a 41% fall in profit to $3.37 billion.
The company, which is also trying to develop a renewable energy division, shipped a record 198.4 million tonnes of iron ore in the year, mainly to China.
But the 4% increase in tonnage failed to compensate for a fall in the iron ore price from a high of close to $110 a tonne to a low of $93/t which led to a 15% fall in revenue of $15.5 billion.
Shareholders will feel the downturn in their annual dividend which has been cut by 44% from $1.28 a share to 72 cents.
Hardest hit are the founders Andrew and Nicola Forrest who will see their shared annual dividend drop from $1.4 billion to $808 million.
Profits should be recovering in the current year with the iron ore price rising back above $100/t and Fortescue reducing expenditure on its ambitious plan to become a major producer of hydrogen as a fuel to displace oil and gas.
Improved efficiency in the company's iron ore operations saw a 1% decline in the cash cost per tonne produced, decreasing from $18.24/t to $17.99/t.
Guidance for the current financial year is unchanged with iron ore exports expected to be between 195-and-205 million tonnes at cash costs between $17.50-and-$18.50/t.
Fortescue is also persevering with its investment in renewable energy despite little recent success.
Chairman Andrew Forrest devoted most of his letter to shareholders to the hunt for commercially viable "green" energy.
"Fortescue continues to point the way toward a zero-emissions economic future, and we are supported by global leaders in the shift we so desperately need for the survival of organic life," Forrest wrote.
His enthusiasm for alternative energy is coming at a cost with $150 million written off from stalled green hydrogen projects in Australia and the U.S. More write-offs are expected.
Investors remain enthusiastic supporters of Fortescue and its outspoken chairman lifting the company's share price from a mid-year low of $9 to latest sales at $12.70 down slightly after the release of the annual result.