MELBOURNE, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Orica Ltd ORI.AX , the world's largest maker of mine explosives, said it expects earnings to improve slightly in 2016 with further growth the following year, after reporting a 26 percent drop in underlying earnings for 2015 on Wednesday.
Net profit before one-offs fell to A$417 million ($297 million) for the year to September 2015 from A$564 million a year earlier, just below analysts' forecasts.
As flagged in August, its bottom line was hit by A$1.7 billion in writedowns after tax on the value of its ammonium nitrate assets, ground support business and other assets, resulting in a net loss of A$1.3 billion, due to the mining bust and an oversupply of ammonium nitrate globally. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N10I031
"With all the actions we are taking, the recovery in volumes anticipated by market forecasters, and subject to the forward price and volume curves for key commodities largely holding, we see some improvement in EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) in FY16, as earnings stabilise, with further improvement in FY17," Orica Chief Executive Alberto Calderon said in a statement.
Analysts are expecting net profit before one-offs to rise 3 percent in the 2016 financial year, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. ($1 = 1.4055 Australian dollars)