By Alex MacDonald
LONDON--Kazakhstan-focused Eurasian Natural Resources PLC
(ENRC.LN) expects its revenue to decline in the second half of the
year compared with the first half, largely due to falling iron ore
prices, the company's chief financial officer said Wednesday.
"Starting from the second quarter of this year, iron ore prices
are slowing down. And obviously in the second half of this year, we
expect our revenue to be lower than in the first half" largely due
to iron ore prices, Zaure Zaurbekova told Dow Jones Newswires.
Jim Cochrane, chief commercial officer, echoed that view in a
call with analysts, saying that given "the general economic
situation, we are not expecting prices to recover much during the
year...We have to be used to maintaining a lower level of
prices."
He added that if the spot price for iron ore delivered into
China fails to recover from the current low level of around $115 a
metric ton, it will have a direct impact on the company's financial
results. He said that the spot iron ore price was about 20% higher
during the first half of the year at around $140/ton.
Prices of iron ore and ferrochrome, two key contributors to
ENRC's earnings, have both fallen due to oversupply amid slower
economic growth in China, the world's largest consumer of such
commodities, and the impact of the euro-zone's sovereign-debt
crisis on its economy and elsewhere.
Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires