Argo Blockchain PLC Ten Fold Increase in 2019 Annual Revenue (2417A)

TIDMARB

RNS Number : 2417A

Argo Blockchain PLC

20 January 2020

Press Release

20 January 2020

Argo Blockchain PLC

('Argo' or 'The Company')

Trading Update

Annual revenues increase 10-fold in 2019

Argo, a leading cryptominer based in the UK (LSE: ARB), is pleased to provide the following operational update for the fourth quarter ended 31st December 2019 and annual revenues for last year.

The Company expects to report a 10-fold increase in annual revenues of approximately GBP8.5m for 2019, its maiden full year of operations, against GBP0.76m revenues in 2018.

For Q4, Argo produced 432 Bitcoins (BTC) from its cryptomining operations compared with 426 BTC in Q3, resulting in revenues of GBP2.66m compared with GBP3.63m in the previous quarter. The lower quarterly revenue is attributable to a drop in cryptocurrency prices, increased mining difficulty, and unfavourable foreign exchange rates towards the end of the year.

The Company achieved a mining margin of approximately 52% during Q4 (Q3 2019: 73%), which it believes to be one of the highest efficiency rates in the market. The lower mining margin was again due to a 20% softening in the price of Bitcoin as well as a rise in mining difficulty and network hash rates in Q4.

Since the year end, the Company is ahead of schedule with the rapid expansion of its installed production capacity, which currently stands at 13,364 machines. This includes 6,375 new generation Bitmain Antminer T17s delivered and installed since the beginning of this month.

The Company also remains on track to install 3,625 more T17s machines by the end of Q1 2020, with the goal of establishing a total production base of 17,000 machines.

The Company's installed machines currently produce 380 petahash. Following the installation of the final 3,625 machines currently on order, the Company expects to generate more than 650 petahash.

Peter Wall, chief executive of Argo, said: "Thanks to a resilient performance in the last quarter, Argo delivered annual revenues of approximately GBP8.5m in 2019, our maiden operational year when we commenced mining at scale only in the second half."

"Our mining operations continued to generate industry-best mining margin in the last quarter despite a softening in market conditions from the previous quarter. Our state-of-the-art mining platform is performing as expected and with the expansion of our mining network on pace, along with the recent rise with the price of Bitcoin, Argo is well-placed for a strong year ahead."

Argo will report its audited results for 2019 in April.

This announcement contains inside information.

For further inquiries please contact:

 
 Argo Blockchain 
 Peter Wall                            via Tancredi [phone] 
  Chief Executive 
 
  Neil Thapar                           [phone] 
  Financial Communications Adviser 
                                      ------------------------------ 
 Mirabaud 
                                      ------------------------------ 
 Corporate Broker 
  Peter Krens                          [phone] 
                                      ------------------------------ 
 Tancredi Intelligent Communication 
  Media Relations 
                                      ------------------------------ 
 Salamander Davoudi                    [phone] 
  [e-mail] 
  Emma Valgimigli 
  [e-mail]                [phone] 
                                      ------------------------------ 
 

About Argo:

Argo Blockchain plc is a global data centre business that provides a purpose-built and flexible platform for mining of leading cryptocurrencies for the enterprise-scale and institutional sectors worldwide from operational centres in Canada. The Company is headquartered in London, UK and its shares are listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker: ARB.

www.argomining.co

See Argo's largest facility in Quebec:

https://youtu.be/LDWWaZ75Zbk

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January 20, 2020 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)