LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / August 29, 2023 / Argo Blockchain plc, a global leader in cryptocurrency mining (LSE:ARB)(NASDAQ: ARBK), is pleased to announce its results for the six months to 30 June 2023.

Highlights

• Reduced non-mining operating costs and expenses by 21% in Q2 2023 compared to the prior quarter, resulting in a positive Adjusted EBITDA of $1.0 million for the quarter (Adjusted EBITDA of $2.3 million for H1 2023)
• Reduced debt by $4 million during the quarter to $75 million as of 30 June 2023, a $68 million reduction from $143 million at 30 June 2022
• Total number of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Equivalent ("BTC") mined during H1 2023 was 947, a 1% increase over the BTC mined in H1 2022, despite a 78% increase in the global hashrate from 30 June 2022 to 30 June 2023
• Revenues of $24.0 million for H1 2023, a decrease of 31% from H1 2022, driven primarily by a decrease in Bitcoin price and the increase in the global hashrate and associated network difficulty
• Net loss was $18.8 million for H1 2023, compared to a net loss of $39.6 million in H1 2022
• The Company ended June 2023 with $9.1 million of cash and 46 Bitcoin or Bitcoin Equivalent (together, "BTC") on its balance sheet; post the period end, the Company raised $7.5 million in gross proceeds via a share placement in July 2023

Post-period highlights

• Increased total hashrate capacity to 2.6 EH/s with the deployment of 1,242 BlockMiner machines at its Quebec facilities
• Expect to deploy an additional 1,628 BlockMiners in the coming months, increasing the Company's total hashrate capacity to 2.8 EH/s
• In July 2023, the Company raised $7.5 million of gross proceeds via a share placement with institutional and retail investors in the UK; the Company used a portion of these proceeds to repay approximately $1.8 million in debt, and the Company's debt balance at the end of July 2023 was $72 million
• The Company is involved in advanced discussions to sell certain non-core assets, and it continues to evaluate options for further reducing debt

Fixed Price Power Purchase Agreement at Helios

During H1 2023, the Company achieved a mining margin of 42%, which is an increase from the mining margin in H2 2022 of 33%. One of the primary drivers of the improved mining margin was the establishment of a fixed price power purchase agreement ("PPA") at Helios in H1 2023, which covers a substantial portion of the facility's electricity load. In addition to providing greater certainty of power costs at Helios going forward, the fixed price PPA also allows the Company to generate power credits via economic curtailment. In Q2 2023, the Company generated approximately $1.1 million in power credits, and it expects to generate more significant power credits during Q3 2023 as a result of the continued heat wave in Texas.

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SOURCE: Argo Blockchain PLC