Thungela Slides to R7.1bn Loss, but Shares Rip 70% Higher on Coal Price Rebound
Thungela Resources (TGA) has reported a challenging full-year result for 2025, sliding to a R7.1 billion net loss after a significant R8.8 billion asset impairment due to weaker coal prices. Despite the headline loss, the company maintained solid operational performance, beat its South African production guidance, and declared a final dividend of R2 per share. The market has looked past historical results, sending the company’s shares soaring over 70% year-to-date in 2026 as a sharp rebound in coal prices has returned the miner to healthy profitability.
Key Financial Metrics
● Revenue: R29.60 billion, a decrease of 17% from R35.55 billion.
● Net Loss: R7.11 billion, compared to a net profit of R3.54 billion in the prior year.
● Headline Loss: R839 million, compared to headline earnings of R3.40 billion in 2024.
● Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA): R1.22 billion, a decrease of 81% from R6.26 billion.
● Operating Free Cash Flow: R396 million, down from R3.60 billion.
● Final Dividend Per Share: R2, bringing the total dividend for the year to R4 per share.
Analysis & Outlook
Thungela's 2025 financial results tell a story of two distinct periods: a year of depressed coal prices that involved major non-cash impairments, followed by a dramatic market recovery in early 2026 that has transformed the company's outlook. The R7.11 billion loss is almost entirely attributable to the R8.8 billion write-down of assets, reflecting the lower price environment of 2025. However, operationally the business proved resilient, with South African production exceeding guidance and benefiting from a 9% improvement in Transnet's railway transport performance. The extraordinary +70% rally in the share price this year-to-date is a direct result of surging thermal coal prices driven by renewed global energy security concerns due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and with the Richards Bay Coal Terminal API4 (benchmark price for thermal coal), prices now trading above costs of production, Thungela has returned to cash generation, the operational leverage that explains why investors are looking forward, not back. The decision to maintain the dividend despite a tough year highlights management's confidence in this recovery. Going forward, the company is focused on controlling costs and executing on life-extension projects to sustain production, rather than chasing expensive new mines.
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** This article was prepared by BROKSTOCK analyst Maboko Seabi
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