Argo Blockchain shares were up 7.6% to 65.6p in late afternoon trading on Thursday, after the cryptocurrency mining group reported a 291% rise in revenue to £74.2 million in 2021 compared to £19 million the previous year.
The company attributed its surge in revenues to a significant uptick in its hashrate, alongside a short-term fall in difficulty on the Bitcoin network and raised Bitcoin prices in 2021.
Argo Blockchain highlighted a 594% spike in EBITDA to £52.9 million against £7.6 million the previous year, and a 2,033% jump in delivered net income to £30.8 million compared to £1.4 million.
The group said its mining margin rose to 84% against 41% in 2020, which was driven by the increased price of Bitcoin following the Chinese ban on Bitcoin mining in May 2021.
The firm noted cash and digital assets of £92.6 million based on the Bitcoin price on 31 December 2021.
Argo Blockchain also reported a 17% decline to 2,045 in the total number of Bitcoin mined, which it linked to the halving event in May 2020 which reduced the block award from 12.5 to 6.25 Bitcoin per block.
The company added that it held 2,700 Bitcoin and Bitcoin equivalents valued at £93.6 million per the Bitcoin price on 31 May 2022.
Operational developments and Acquisitions
Argo Blockchain acquired the Helios project in Texas, which has an interconnection agreement for 800 mega-watts of power capacity, with the company anticipating phase one’s initial 200 mega-watts ready for operation in May 2022.
The firm also acquired two data centres in Quebec from GPUone, with combined total of 20 mega-watts in power capacity.
The crypto company further said it had acquired 20,000 Bitmain S19J Pro mining machines, with delivery and installation expected to commence in batches between May to October this year.
Argo Blockchain added that it expanded its Bitcoin mining capacity from 0.6 to 1.6 Exahash per second.
Argo growth for 2022
The firm said it expects mining operations to commence at Helios in May 2022, with additional capital spending to complete Helios phase one to amount to £93-£100 million, which is set to be financed primarily through debt and income from selling a portion of mined Bitcoin per month.
The company added that it projected a 5.5 Exahash per second capacity by the close of 2022, driven by the installation of the Bitmain S19J Pro machines alongside the deployment of custom-designed mining machines which would utilise Intel’s ASIC Blockscale chips.
Argo noted an estimated hashrate in excess of 20 exahash per second over the next few years as the additional 600 mega-watts of Helios capacity is completely developed.
“2021 was truly a year of transformation for Argo as we accomplished key milestones to strengthen the foundation of the Group and position us for long-term success through the acquisition of the Helios project and our dual listing on Nasdaq,” said Argo Blockchain CEO Peter Wall.
“The acquisition of Helios provided us with the opportunity to build a best-in-class, vertically-integrated facility with access to low-cost and sustainable electricity, which is unmatched by our peers.”
“With our mining operations at Helios expected to commence in May, along with the development of custom mining machines using Intel’s next-generation Blockscale ASIC chips, Argo is well-positioned to continue its growth with a focus on delivering for our shareholders. Onwards and upwards.”
