Champion Iron Limited has announced its operational and financial results for its financial fourth quarter ending March 31, 2026. The company reported net income of C$23.2 million for the given period, down from C$39.1 million in the same period a year earlier, as a stronger Canadian dollar and higher cash costs weighed on results.
Revenues totaled C$414.5 million for the quarter, a decrease of three percent from C$425.3 million in the same prior-year period. Although sales volumes were comparable year-over-year, the company attributed the lower revenues mainly to a stronger Canadian dollar during the period, partially offset by a higher average net realized selling price in US dollars.
EBITDA was also affected by the stronger Canadian dollar, with the quarter closing at C$114.3 million, representing an EBITDA margin of 28 percent, compared to C$127.4 million and a margin of 30 percent in the same period a year earlier.
Quarterly production reached 3.435 million wet metric tonnes (wmt) of high-purity 66.2 percent Fe concentrate, an eight percent increase over the same prior-year period, mainly attributable to higher mill productivity and an improved Fe recovery rate, which rose to 80.6 percent from 78.3 percent a year earlier.
Sales totaled 3.455 million dry metric tonnes (dmt), comparable to the same prior-year period, despite a third-party train derailment that disrupted rail service early in the quarter, with continued disruptions thereafter, as well as particularly challenging winter conditions. Sales exceeded production for the fifth consecutive quarter as the company continued to draw down concentrate stockpiled at Bloom Lake and at the Port of Sept-Iles, which fell to 1.3 million wmt on March 31, 2026, from 1.5 million wmt on December 31, 2025.
On the development side, the company's DRPF project, designed to upgrade up to half of Bloom Lake's capacity to direct reduction quality pellet feed grading up to 69 percent Fe, advanced as planned. Cumulative investment in the project totaled C$479.5 million as of March 31, 2026, at an estimated total of C$500 million.
Champion also completed its acquisition of Rana Gruber ASA, a Norwegian producer of high-purity iron ore, on April 17, 2026, at a total purchase price of approximately $300 million plus related fees and expenses.