IGO Limited experienced a significant drop in its share value on Wednesday after the miner disclosed ongoing operational challenges at its Kwinana lithium hydroxide refinery. The company anticipates an impairment between $70 million and $90 million. At 3.30pm AEST, IGO shares were down 6.4 per cent to $6.30, positioning it as the second-worst performer on the ASX 200, trailing only Emerald Resources. IGO is an Australian mining and exploration company focused on metals critical to clean energy. The company’s operations span across nickel, lithium, and copper.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Kaan Peker noted that the weaker-than-expected fiscal year 2026 guidance from Greenbushes and persistent net debt concerns have weighed on the stock, despite a fourth-quarter group EBITDA beat. Peker stated that the softer Greenbushes guidance and net debt are likely to continue impacting the stock’s performance.
IGO’s fourth-quarter EBITDA of $62 million exceeded RBC’s estimate of $50 million, driven by robust results from Nova. However, operating cash flow of $4 million fell short of forecasts, with no dividend received from the TLEA joint venture. While Nova demonstrated strong performance in production and unit costs, Greenbushes missed targets due to lower grades.
Furthermore, the fiscal year 2026 spodumene production guidance of 1.5 to 1.6 million tonnes was below RBC’s estimate of 1.8 million tonnes. The first ore from the CGP3 expansion is now expected later in the calendar year.
