Debt reduction focused on the sale of equipment which helped strengthen the company’s balance sheet, he said.

“This has been successfully completed and will reduce our equipment finance debt to about $1 million. This has improved cashflow by $500,000 per month as well as lowering associated financing costs,” he said.

“Due to the market conditions, we had a disappointing year financially, with a decline in annual revenue to $69.3 million which generated underlying EBITDA of $2.13 million.”

Underlying net profit after tax was $1.78 million.

Some relief has occurred for coking coal producers, who form the main client base of Delta SBD, with the US dollar spot price of coking coal up 10% from the low point and a slight depreciation in the Australian dollar.

“Production of coking coal from Australia is actually growing and we believe the pressure to further increase production will cause producers to draw contractors back to the mines again during the years ahead,” Galt said.