ZCCM-IH Reports Strategic Progress and US$110.7 Million Net Loss in 2025 Amid Transformation

ZCCM Investments Holdings PLC has delivered one of those result sets where the headline looks rough, but the story underneath is more complicated. The Group posted a net loss of ZMW 2.79 billion, or US$110.72 million, for 2025, versus a net profit of ZMW 39.85 billion in 2024. On the face of it, that is a big reversal – but last year’s number was boosted by a huge one-off gain, so the comparison is anything but clean.

These are provisional abridged unaudited results, so they are not the final audited full-year accounts. Even so, there is enough here for investors to see both the pressure points and the longer-term strategy.

ZCCM-IH 2025 results: the key numbers retail investors need to know

Metric	2025	2024
Group revenue from contracts with customers	ZMW 169.46 million	ZMW 3.21 billion
Group operating profit/(loss)	(ZMW 1.64 billion)	ZMW 37.75 billion
Group profit/(loss) for the year	(ZMW 2.79 billion)	ZMW 39.85 billion
Group earnings per share	(ZMW 17.32)	ZMW 247.80
Group total assets	ZMW 47.98 billion	ZMW 57.29 billion
Group capital and reserves	ZMW 44.29 billion	ZMW 52.26 billion
Group borrowings	ZMW 2.25 billion	ZMW 3.35 billion
Group cash and cash equivalents	ZMW 341.61 million	ZMW 525.69 million
Company loss for the year	(ZMW 1.18 billion)	(ZMW 4.38 billion)

The first thing to say is that ZCCM-IH is an investment holding company, so the simple revenue line does not tell the whole story. A lot of the value sits in associates – businesses it partly owns and accounts for using its share of their profits or losses.

Why ZCCM-IH swung from a huge 2024 profit to a 2025 loss

The biggest reason is straightforward: 2024 included a gain on subsidiary loan modification of ZMW 35.03 billion linked to the Mopani Strategic Equity Partner Transaction. That did not repeat in 2025. Strip out that one-off boost, and this year’s numbers look less like a collapse and more like a return to normal, albeit a still-painful normal.

There were also genuine operational and financial drags. ZCCM-IH’s share of profit from equity-accounted investees swung from a profit of ZMW 3.33 billion to a loss of ZMW 31.02 million, mainly because Mopani Copper Mines Plc and Konkola Copper Mines Plc were loss-making while undergoing recapitalisation.

Then there is foreign exchange. The Zambian kwacha strengthened from ZMW 27.95 per US Dollar at 31 December 2024 to ZMW 22.12 at 31 December 2025. That sounds good for the currency, but it hurt ZCCM-IH’s reported kwacha profits because many assets are US Dollar-denominated.

This is where the nuance matters. In kwacha, Group total assets fell to ZMW 47.98 billion from ZMW 57.29 billion. But in US Dollar terms, total assets actually increased to US$2.17 billion from US$2.05 billion. So part of the apparent damage is accounting translation rather than economic destruction.

Trafigura arbitration provision is the awkward overhang in these ZCCM-IH results

The most uncomfortable item in the release is the legal provision. ZCCM-IH recognised a provision of ZMW 973 million, or US$44 million, following the final arbitral award in the Trafigura case.

The award itself is larger than that provision. The company says it has been ordered to pay approximately US$69.31 million in principal, US$19.74 million in accrued interest, further interest at variable rates, and around GBP 1.86 million in legal and arbitration costs.

Management says the US$44 million provision reflects ongoing settlement negotiations, and crucially it states that this amount will be fully recovered from Konkola Copper Mine Plc under a Tripartite Reimbursement Agreement. That helps, but until settlement is done and recovery is actually made, investors will probably treat this as a live risk rather than a closed file.

ZCCM-IH strategic progress in mining and energy: the positive side of the story

To me, this is the section that stops the results from looking purely grim. ZCCM-IH is clearly trying to build a broader platform across copper, gold, industrial minerals and power.

• Maamba Solar Energy Limited: ZCCM-IH took a 35% stake, investing US$9.45 million into a 100MWac solar photovoltaic project with total investment value of US$90 million. Commissioning is expected by August 2026.
• Maamba Energy Limited: its Phase II expansion should double installed capacity from 300MW to 600MW. ZCCM-IH had funded US$17.50 million of its US$35 million equity commitment by 31 December 2025, with the rest funded after year-end.
• Kyalo Goldfields Limited: formed in May 2026, with ZCCM-IH holding 51%, giving the Group more gold exposure.
• Ndola Lime (2026) Limited: ZCCM-IH holds 45% in a joint venture aimed at reviving lime and cement production.
• Ever Great Energy Company Limited: ZCCM-IH plans to invest about US$54.2 million for a 30% stake in a US$451.7 million thermal power project.

On the mining side, there are some real operational markers too. Kansanshi completed the S3 Expansion, declared commercial production in December 2025, and delivered 170,929 tonnes of copper – its highest annual production since 2021. That matters because Kansanshi is a core royalty-generating asset for ZCCM-IH.

Mingomba also looks important. Drilling reached 48,597.90 metres in 2025, above the 47,000-metre budget, with another 10,879.90 metres drilled in the first quarter of 2026. The Mineral Resource Estimate is still expected in the third quarter of 2026.

Balance sheet, cash flow and debt: better in some places, weaker in others

There is a mixed picture here. Group borrowings fell to ZMW 2.25 billion from ZMW 3.35 billion, which is a clear positive. The company also highlighted the full repayment of the US$150 million Glencore legacy loan in April 2026, after the reporting period, removing a major historical burden.

But cash flow was not pretty at Group level. Net cash outflow from operating activities was ZMW 1.26 billion, compared with an inflow of ZMW 1.45 billion in 2024, and cash and cash equivalents fell to ZMW 341.61 million.

That said, ZCCM-IH still had term deposits of ZMW 3.83 billion at year-end. So this is not a story of the cupboard being bare. It is more a case of a Group in active transition, with cash being pulled in several directions at once.

What these ZCCM-IH 2025 results mean for shareholders

My take is fairly simple. The headline loss is negative, the Trafigura issue is messy, and the weak operating cash flow tells you this turnaround is not yet self-funding. Investors should not pretend otherwise.

But there is also a credible strategic case here. ZCCM-IH is leaning into assets and projects that could drive future royalties, copper output and power earnings, while also reducing legacy debt. The standalone company loss improved to ZMW 1.18 billion from ZMW 4.38 billion, helped by higher royalty income from Kansanshi and stronger copper prices.

The big question now is execution. If Mopani, KCM and Lubambe recover as planned, if Kansanshi keeps delivering, and if the energy projects come through on time, these ugly 2025 reported numbers may end up looking like a transition year rather than the start of something worse.

For retail investors, that means patience is required. ZCCM-IH still looks more like a long-term restructuring and asset-development story than a clean, near-term earnings story.