Posted adjusted EBITDA of $25.8 million for the first quarter of 2024 Net cash positive for the first time in the Company's history; all-time low gross debt of $81 million Initiated a quarterly cash dividend of $0.013 per share, paid on March 28, 2024; announcing a second quarter dividend of $0.013 per share, payable on June 27 Board approved stock buyback program; shareholder vote to approve buyback scheduled for June 2024 AGM Successfully restarted French operations on April 1, 2024, with all furnaces running Applying for permit to expand silicon metal production in the U.S. to address strong secular trends in solar and EV batteries Signed a memorandum of understanding with Coreshell, followed by an investment post-quarter after strong test results in our lab LONDON, May 14, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ:GSM) ("Ferroglobe", the "Company", or the "Parent"), a leading producer globally of silicon metal, silicon-based and manganese-based specialty alloys, today announced financial results for the first quarter 2024. Financial Highlights              %       % ($ in millions, except EPS) Q1 2024   Q4 2023   Q/Q   Q1 2023   Y/Y                             Sales $ 391.9     $ 376.0     4%   $ 400.9     (2%) Net (loss) income $ (2.0 )   $ (11.1 )   82%   $ 21.0     (110%) Adjusted diluted EPS $ —     $ 0.07     82%   $ 0.05     (110%) Adj. EBITDA $ 25.8     $ 60.3     (57%)   $ 44.8     (42%) Operating cash flow $ 198.0     $ 25.1     688%   $ 134.8     47% Capital expenditures1 $ 18.2     $ 25.5     (29%)   $ 18.0     1% Free cash flow2 $ 179.8     $ (0.4 )   (45.509%)   $ 116.8     54% (1)   Cash outflows for capital expenditures (2)   Free cash flow is calculated as operating cash flow less capital expenditures Dr. Marco Levi, Ferroglobe's Chief Executive Officer, commented, "In the first quarter, we continued to make progress in improving Ferroglobe's financial position, ending the quarter with a positive net cash position for the first time, representing the strongest financial position in the Company's history. We announced a dividend last quarter and are declaring another dividend of $0.013. Our board recently approved a buyback initiative, and we expect our shareholders to do the same during our annual shareholders' meeting in June. We will continue to focus on policies that return value to our shareholders. "As we position the Company to exploit the strong anticipated demand in silicon metal to address the solar and EV battery markets, we are in the process of applying for a permit to expand our silicon metal operations in North America. This will be in the form of a brownfield expansion, which is significantly less costly than a greenfield buildout. In March, we signed a memorandum of understanding with Coreshell, a leading US-based battery technology company, working towards building the world's first battery-grade metallurgical silicon for electric vehicles. Recently we solidified this relationship by making a strategic investment in Coreshell. This is an important opportunity for Ferroglobe to play a key role in the ongoing evolution of the electric vehicle battery market. Using silicon in EV batteries has significant advantages over graphite, including lower cost, an increase of up to 40% in driving range as well as significantly faster charging times. We believe silicon will be an important component in the innovation of EV batteries and we are positioning the company to be an integral part of it. "The indices across all our businesses are up from the lows. While the initial improvement in prices was driven by supply-related issues, these prices have held strong and we are starting to see some signs of fundamental improvements in demand in the U.S. Accordingly, we are raising the low end of our annual adjusted EBITDA guidance, increasing the range from $100-170 million to $130-170 million," concluded Dr. Levi. Consolidated Sales In the first quarter of 2024, Ferroglobe reported net sales of $391.9 million, an increase of 4% over the prior quarter and a decrease of 2% over the year-ago period. The increase in our first quarter results is primarily attributable to higher volumes across our product portfolio, partly offset by lower pricing in silicon metal and silicon-based alloys. Over the prior quarter, the sales increase was primarily driven by silicon-based alloys, which accounted for $5 million, and manganese-based alloys, which accounted for $6 million of the increase, while silicon metals sales remained stable. Product Category Highlights Silicon Metal ($,000) Q1 2024   Q4 2023   % Q/Q   Q1 2023   % Y/Y Shipments in metric tons:   53,183       49,761     6.9 %     36,942     44.0 % Average selling price ($/MT):   3,155       3,371     (6.4 )%     4,351     (27.5 )%                           Silicon Metal Revenue   167,792       167,744     0.0 %     160,735     4.4 % Silicon Metal Adj.EBITDA   16,071       22,188     (27.6 )%     31,120     (48.4 )% Silicon Metal Adj.EBITDA Margin   9.6 %     13.2 %         19.4 %     Silicon metal revenue in the first quarter was $167.8 million, in line with the prior quarter. The average realized selling price decreased by 6.4%, primarily due to a price decline of 10% in the U.S. Total shipments increased due to higher volumes in EMEA. Adjusted EBITDA for silicon metal decreased to $16.1 million during the first quarter, a decrease of 27.6% compared with $22.2 million for the prior quarter. The Adjusted EBITDA margin in the quarter decreased mainly driven by reduced energy compensation in France in the first quarter of 2024. Silicon-Based Alloys ($,000) Q1 2024   Q4 2023   % Q/Q   Q1 2023   % Y/Y Shipments in metric tons:   51,171       46,446     10.2 %     49,100     4.2 % Average selling price ($/MT):   2,188       2,300     (4.9 )%     2,756     (20.6 )%                           Silicon-based Alloys Revenue   111,962       106,826     4.8 %     135,320     (17.3 )% Silicon-based Alloys Adj.EBITDA   14,412       34,973     (58.8 )%     21,924     (34.3 )% Silicon-based Alloys Adj.EBITDA Margin   12.9 %     32.7 %         16.2 %     Silicon-based alloy revenue in the first quarter was $112.0 million, an increase of 4.8% over the prior quarter. The shipment increase of 10.2% is attributable to stronger volumes in the U.S. Adjusted EBITDA for the silicon-based alloys decreased to $14.4 million in the first quarter of 2024, a decrease of 58.8% compared with $35.0 million for the prior quarter. The Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased in the quarter mainly due to the decrease in average realized price during the first quarter of 2024. Manganese-Based Alloys ($,000) Q1 2024   Q4 2023   % Q/Q   Q1 2023   % Y/Y Shipments in metric tons:   62,320       61,404     1.5 %     46,867     33.0 % Average selling price ($/MT):   1,066       985     8.2 %     1,316     (19.0 )%                           Manganese-based Alloys Revenue   66,433       60,483     9.8 %     61,677     7.7 % Manganese-based Alloys Adj.EBITDA   5,520       23,886     (76.9 )%     2,043     170.2 % Manganese-based Alloys Adj.EBITDA Margin   8.3 %     39.5 %         3.3 %     Manganese-based alloy revenue in the first quarter was $66.4 million, an increase of 9.8% over the prior quarter. The average realized selling price increased by 8.2% and total shipments increased 1.5%. Adjusted EBITDA for the manganese-based alloys portfolio decreased to $5.5 million in the first quarter of 2024, a decrease of 76.9% compared with $23.9 million for the prior quarter. The Adjusted EBITDA margin decrease was mainly driven by reduced energy compensation in France. Raw materials and energy consumption for production Raw materials and energy consumption for production was $257.4 million in the first quarter of 2024 versus $199.9 million in the prior quarter, an increase of 29%. As a percentage of sales, raw materials and energy consumption for production was 66% in the first quarter of 2024 versus 53% in the prior quarter. This variance was mainly due to higher production costs in Europe related to the idling of operations in France during the first quarter of 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. Net (Loss) Income Attributable to the Parent In the first quarter of 2024, net loss attributable to the parent was $2.0 million, or ($0.01) per diluted share, compared to a net loss attributable to the parent of $11.1 million, or ($0.06) per diluted share in the fourth quarter. Adjusted EBITDA In the first quarter of 2024, adjusted EBITDA was $25.8 million, or 6.6% of sales, a decrease of 57.2% compared to adjusted EBITDA of $60.3 million, or 16% of sales in the fourth quarter of 2023. The decrease in the first quarter of 2024 adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of sales is primarily attributable to lower realized prices and lower indirect CO2 and energy compensation in France. Total Cash, Adjusted Gross Debt and Working Capital                              % ($ in millions) Q1 2024   Q4 2023   $   %   Q1 2023   $   Y/Y                                     Total Cash $ 159.8     $ 137.6     22   16%   $ 344.2     (184)   (54%) Adjusted Gross Debt1   80.8       238.5     (158)   (66%)     399.7     (319)   (80%) Net (Cash)/Debt $ (79.0 )   $ (100.9 )   22   22%   $ 55.5     (134)   (242%) Total Working Capital $ 487.5     $ 510.7     (23)   (5%)   $ 582.3     (95)   (16%) (1)  Adjusted gross debt excludes bank borrowings on factoring program and impact of leasing standard IFRS16 for each of the periods presented The total cash balance was $159.8 million as of March 31, 2024, up $22.1 million from $137.6 million as of December 31, 2023. During the first quarter of 2024, we generated $198.0 million of operating cash flow and had a negative cash flow from investing activities of $17.5 million. Cash flow from financing activities was negative $156.3 million as we paid the remaining senior secured notes of approximately $150 million. Total working capital was $487.5 million on March 31, 2024, improving from $510.7 million as of December 31, 2023. The $23.2 million decrease in working capital balance during the quarter was mainly due to a $22.2 million decrease in inventories and a $6.3 million decrease in trade and other receivables, partially offset by a $5.3 million decrease in trade and other payables. Beatriz García-Cos, Ferroglobe's Chief Financial Officer, commented, "This quarter Ferroglobe turned net cash positive for the first time in its history, a significant milestone for the Company. We achieved a net cash balance of $79 million at quarter end, representing a total cash of $160 million and adjusted gross debt of $81 million. Our operating cash flow in the quarter was strong, driven by a payment of $154 million from our French energy agreement. Also, for the first time in the Company's history, we declared a dividend last quarter of $0.013, which was paid on March 28th and are announcing another dividend this quarter of $0.013, which will be payable on June 27th. With a strong financial position, we are working on various strategies to return value to shareholders. Our board has approved a share buyback program and once approved by our shareholders at our annual general meeting we will implement the buyback strategy." Enhanced Capital Return Policy Ferroglobe's board of directors approved a share buyback program, which requires a shareholder vote as a UK company listed on Nasdaq. As part of the annual general meeting in June, we are seeking authorization of $200 million for a share repurchase program over a 5-year period. The company paid a quarterly cash dividend of $0.013 per share on March 28, 2024, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 22, 2024. A cash dividend of $0.013 per share will be paid on June 27, 2024, to shareholders of record as of June 17, 2024. Conference Call Ferroglobe invites all interested persons to participate on its conference call at 8:30 AM, Eastern Time on May 15, 2024. Please dial-in at least five minutes prior to the call to register. The call may also be accessed via an audio webcast. To join via phone:                                                                         Conference call participants should pre-register using this link:        https://register.vevent.com/register/BI3710d5099e3c4756b47a1496c71ce9abOnce registered, you will receive the dial-in numbers and a personal PIN, ...