Argo records $18.8m net loss despite increased mining efforts

Despite trimming debt and operational expenses, Argo Blockchain posted a net loss of over $18 million in H1 2023, records show.

Argo Blockchain, a leading crypto mining company (LSE: ARB; NASDAQ: ARBK), has released its performance report for the first half of 2023.

According to the report, in Q2 2023, Argo Blockchain decreased its non-mining operational costs and expenditures by 21% from the prior quarter, yielding a positive Adjusted EBITDA of $1.0 million for the quarter ($2.3 million for H1 2023).

While its revenue dropped by 31%, the company achieved a 1% growth in its Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations during that period.

The company’s debt was reduced by $4 million in the quarter, resulting in a cumulative debt decrease of $68 million from June 2022 to June 2023.

The firm noted that it generated a revenue of $24.0 million in H1 2023, representing a 31% decrease from H1 2022.

Argo attributes its revenue decline to the fall in the price of  Bitcoin and the surge in global BTC mining difficulty. The company’s net loss for H1 2023 stood at $18.8 million, a substantial decrease from the $39.6 million net loss recorded in H1 2022.

In June 2023, the company had $9.1 million in cash and 46 BTC on its balance sheet. Following the period, Argo secured $7.5 million through a share placement partially allocated to reducing debt to $72 million.

The company also achieved $7.5 million in gross proceeds via a share placement with investors. A fraction of these funds were utilized to pay off $1.8 million, resulting in a debt balance of $72 million.

Argo Blockchain says it’s currently in advanced discussions to divest non-core assets and is continuously evaluating strategies for debt reduction.

A significant highlight in H1 2023 was the company’s mining margin of 42%, marking an increase from 33% in H2 2022. 

This growth can be attributed to a fixed price power purchase agreement (PPA) established at Helios in H1 2023. The PPA addresses a substantial portion of the facility’s electricity consumption, ensuring predictable power expenses and facilitating power credit generation through economic curtailment. 

In early 2023, Argo initiated a series of transactions with Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. (Galaxy) to bolster its balance sheet, enhance liquidity, and position the company for profitable mining. 

These transactions involved selling the Helios facility and property in Dickens County, Texas, to Galaxy for $65 million and refinancing existing asset-backed loans using a new $35 million three-year asset-backed loan from Galaxy. These actions reduced total indebtedness by $41 million and streamlined the operational structure.

In Q2 2023, the company generated approximately $1.1 million in power credits and anticipates higher credit generation in Q3 2023 due to an ongoing heat wave in Texas.

Bitcoin halving on the horizon 

The next Bitcoin halving event is expected to occur in early Q2 2024.

After every successful halving event, the reward for mining new Bitcoin blocks is cut in half, reducing the rate at which new BTCs are created. The next one will see the block reward fall from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC.

Halving increases the scarcity of Bitcoin, leading to a growth in its value due to supply and demand economics. Overall, the Bitcoin halving in April 2024 is anticipated to be a significant event that could potentially impact the cryptocurrency’s price.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is exchanging hands for $27,542, up 5% in 24 hours.