The Minova ground support division remains cash flow positive, with a dedicated sales force now in place to focus on re-invigorating the brand and opening new markets, Orica CEO Alberto Calderon said.

“Across all our operations we remain focused on building and sustaining deep customer relationships,” he said.

“To that end, it is pleasing that across every region we achieved net contract wins in the half. In addition, more than 80% of our revenue continues to come from ‘down the hole’ and value add services – this shows that we continue to have a value proposition for our customers that is more than just basic product provision.”

Minova focused on improving performance under the new structure, and is expected to remain cashflow positive, according to Calderon.

“In a period of sustained difficult market conditions, we will continue to focus on controlling all the elements that we can, supported by rigorous financial and operational processes,” he said.

“Today’s results reinforce Orica’s relative resilience, underpinned by an enhanced customer focus, and market leading, value added products and services. All these factors leave us well positioned to capture opportunities when commodity volumes begin to recover in the medium term, as predicted by market forecasters.”