HIGHLIGHTS:
Group underlying EBITDA[1] of EUR 120 million for H1 2018, an increase of EUR 9 million (8%) on H1 2017, supported by a 21% increase in the average zinc price (USD 2,690/t to USD 3,268/t), and a 30% production increase in Mining, partially offset by lower treatment charges, an expected reduced production at Port Pirie due to a planned blast furnace maintenance shut, and a weakening of the USD against the EUR (1.08 to 1.21)
Metals Processing underlying EBITDA of EUR 118 million, up EUR 1 million year-on-year, driven by slightly higher zinc metal production and higher commodity prices, offset by reduced lead and by-product production and lower zinc and lead treatment charges
Mining underlying EBITDA of EUR 28 million, up EUR 13 million year-on-year, driven by the successful restart and ramp-up of the Middle Tennessee Mines, higher commodity prices and lower treatment charges, partially offset by the negative EBITDA contribution of the Myra Falls mine re-start
Balance sheet strengthened in-line with guidance provided at the Q1 2018 Interim Management Statement
Net debt excluding zinc metal prepay and perpetual securities of EUR 1,198 million at the end of June 2018, a reduction of EUR 153 million on 31 March 2018, predominantly due to the working capital outflow experienced in Q1 2018 being fully reversed. Net debt inclusive of zinc metal prepay and perpetual securities of EUR 1,487 million at the end of June 2018, a reduction of EUR 105 million on 31 March 2018
Further protective hedges placed during Q2 2018 for zinc price and foreign exchange to reduce downside risk with 100% of free zinc to be produced by the Mines in 2019 (166kt) hedged at c. USD 3,000/t (positive mark to market as at 30 July 2018 of c. USD 85 million)
Port Pirie Redevelopment remains ahead of schedule
Important milestones achieved on operating time, volume of material treated and proportion of high margin residue in feed (residue in feed of 54% in Q2 2018 and 57% in July 2018)
Sufficient internally generated residues (c. 400kt) stockpiled on-site to feed the TSL furnace for several years with a substantial operating margin per metal of approximately 99% for lead, 75-85% for silver, 80-90% for gold, 90-95% for copper and 15% for zinc)
Earnings uplift continues to be in-line with guidance, with at least EUR 40 million expected in H2 2018, EUR 100 million in 2019 and EUR 130 million in 2020
Myra Falls restart is progressing well with zinc production expected to commence during Q3 2018 and first shipment of zinc in concentrate to take place in Q4 2018
Opportunistically commencing a programme to buy-back and cancel 2019 senior notes

Commenting on the first half 2018 results, Hilmar Rode, Chief Executive Officer said:

"We have delivered a strong set of operational and financial results over the first half of the year with positive Funds From Operations in H1 2018 and are confident that we will be Free Cash Flow positive for the full year.

We continue to deliver on our strategy of ramping-up the Port Pirie Redevelopment, restarting and ramping up production from our North American mines, optimising our five zinc smelting operations and strengthening our balance sheet. The Port Pirie Redevelopment has maintained its strong ramp-up trajectory and is expected to contribute positively to earnings in the second half of 2018 in-line with previous guidance. The Middle Tennessee Mines have substantially increased production since their restart in 2017 and the Myra Falls mine is on-course to commence zinc production in Q3 2018 and provide a further uplift to Nyrstar's earnings.

The hedging programme has been extended over the course of Q2 2018 to mitigate downside risks to the business, including the placement of hedges on 100% of 2019 free zinc exposure of the mines (166kt) at approximately USD 3,000/t. Our ability to deliver on our transformation strategy and generate free cash flow has given us the confidence to enter the market to start buying-back and cancelling our 2019 bonds."

CONFERENCE CALL
Management will discuss this statement in a conference call with the investment community on 1 August 2018 at 9:00am Central European Summer Time. The presentation will be webcast live and will also be available in archive. The webcast can be accessed via: https://edge.media-server.com/m6/p/e8pucsu

KEY FIGURES[2]
EUR million
(unless otherwise indicated)
H1 H1 %
2017 2018 Change

Income Statement Summary
Revenue 1,806 1,930 7%
Gross Profit 555 600 8%
Direct operating costs (445) (485) 9%
Non-operating and other 2 6 200%

Underlying EBITDA
Metals Processing Underlying EBITDA 117 118 1%
Mining Underlying EBITDA 15 28 87%
Other and Eliminations Underlying EBITDA (22) (26) 18%
Group Underlying EBITDA 111 120 8%
Underlying EBITDA margin 6% 6% -
Embedded derivative (2) (3) 50%
Restructuring expense (1) (13) -
M&A related transaction expense 0 (2) -
Other income 7 2 (71%)
Profit / (Loss) on disposal of investments (2) (0) -
Underlying adjustments 2 (16) -
Depreciation, depletion, amortisation (77) (75) (3%)
Impairment gain / (loss) - - -
Result from operating activities 36 30 (17%)
Net finance expense (excluding fx) (65) (71) 9%
Net foreign exchange (loss)/gain (35) (5) (86%)
Income tax (expense) / benefit 9 1 (89%)

Profit / (Loss) from continuing operations (56) (45) (20%)
Profit / (Loss) from discontinued operations 35 (4) -
Profit / (Loss) for the period (21) (49) 133%
Basic Loss per share (EUR) (0.22) (0.45) (105%)

Capex
Metals Processing 140 70 (50%)
Mining 19 63 232%
Other 2 1 (50%)
Group Capex 161 134 (17%)

Cash Flow
Funds From Operations (FFO)[3] (111) 18 (116%)
Net Free Cash Flow (FCF)[4] (159) (58) (64%)

30 Jun 2017 30 Jun 2018
Loans and borrowings, end of the period 1,081 1,276 18%
Less cash and cash equivalents, end of period (95) (78) (18%)
Net Debt Exclusive of Zinc Prepay and Perpetual Securities 986 1,198 22%

Zinc Prepay 118 104 (12%)
Perpetual Securities 139 186 34%
Net Debt Inclusive of Zinc Prepay and Perpetual Securities 1,243 1,487 20%

EUR million
(unless otherwise indicated) H1 H1 %
2017 2018 Change

Metals Processing Production
Zinc metal ('000 tonnes) 518 528 2%
Lead metal ('000 tonnes) 84 69 (18%)

Mining Production
Zinc in concentrate ('000 tonnes) 53 69 30%

Market[5]
Zinc price (USD/t) 2,690 3,268 21%
Lead price (USD/t) 2,221 2,456 11%
Silver price (USD/t.oz) 17.32 16.65 (4%)
Gold price (USD/t.oz) 1,238 1,318 6%
EUR/USD average exchange rate 1.08 1.21 12%
EUR/AUD average exchange rate 1.44 1.57 9%

GROUP FINANCIAL OVERVIEW
Revenue for H1 2018 of EUR 1,930 million was up 7% on H1 2017, driven by higher zinc, lead and gold prices which were up 21%, 11% and 6% respectively and increased production volumes in zinc smelting and mining.

Group gross profit for H1 2018 of EUR 600 million was up 8% on H1 2017, driven by higher production volumes in both Metals Processing and Mining and higher zinc, lead and gold prices, partially offset by deteriorating benchmark zinc treatment charge terms and a weaker US dollar.

Direct operating costs for H1 2018 of EUR 485 million increased 9% on H1 2017, due to higher production volumes in both Metals Processing and Mining and higher mining costs as a result of the ramp-up of mining operations at Middle Tennessee and the restart at Myra Falls.

Group underlying EBITDA of EUR 120 million in H1 2018, an increase of 8% on H1 2017, due to higher commodity prices and higher production volumes in Metals Processing and Mining, partially offset by lower treatment charges, lower production from Port Pirie and a weaker US dollar.

Depreciation, depletion and amortisation expense for H1 2018 of EUR 75 million was down 3% year-on year.

Net finance expense excluding foreign exchange for H1 2018 of EUR 71 million was up EUR 6 million on H1 2017 primarily due to net debt exclusive of zinc prepay and perpetual securities increasing by 21% and net debt inclusive of zinc prepay and perpetual securities increasing by 20% compared to end June 2017. In line with the funding agreement with the South Australian Government, Nyrstar has full discretion to defer payment of the principal and interest on the perpetual securities. In May 2018, Nyrstar elected to defer payment of the principal only on the perpetual securities. The interest payment of c. AUD 7.9 million under the perpetual securities was made in May 2018.

Income tax benefit for H1 2018 of EUR 1 million (H1 2017: income tax benefit of EUR 9 million) due to recognition of losses, representing an effective tax rate of 2.4% (H1 2017: (29.4%)). The effective tax rate for H1 2018 was impacted by losses incurred by Nyrstar, including the discontinued operations, for which no tax benefit has been recognised.

Loss from continuing operations in H1 2018 of EUR 45 million, compared to a net loss of EUR 56 million in H1 2017, mainly as a result of lower foreign exchange impact offset by higher restructuring expenses and consulting expenses compared to the prior period.

Capital expenditure was EUR 134 million in H1 2018, representing a decrease of 17% year-on-year driven by a substantial reduction in Metals Processing from EUR 140 million in H1 2017 to EUR 70 million in H1 2018 with the completion of the Port Pirie Redevelopment and a EUR 44 million increase in Mining with the restart of the Myra Falls mine.

FFO of EUR 18 million in H1 2018 was an improvement of EUR 129 million compared to H1 2017 and FCF in H1 2018 of negative EUR 58 million was down 64% compared to negative EUR 159 million in H1 2017. The positive FFO in H1 2018 was driven primarily by an inflow of working capital and increased Group Underlying EBITDA.

Net debt of EUR 1,198 million at the end of H1 2018, excluding the zinc metal prepay and perpetual securities, was 21% higher year-on-year (EUR 986 million at the end of June 2017). The net debt inclusive of the zinc metal prepay and perpetual securities at the end of H1 2018 was EUR 1,487 million, up 20% compared to the end of June 2017. Cash balance at the end of H1 2018 was EUR 78 million compared to EUR 95 million at the end of June 2017 with immediately available liquidity at the end of H1 2018 of EUR 643 million.

STRATEGIC HEDGES
During the implementation of the transformation and turnaround strategy, Nyrstar has taken prudent measures to mitigate downside risk on zinc prices and key currencies by placing zero cost hedging collars whereby Nyrstar buys put options and sells call options on zinc price and sells put options and buys call options on foreign exchange.

In addition to the collar hedging that has previously been disclosed to the market, during the course of Q2 2018, Nyrstar entered into strategic hedging arrangements using metal market and currency futures contracts to cover its exposure to approximately all of its free zinc metal production and non-USD exposure on a fixed forward basis in the Mining segment for 2019. Nyrstar has also placed hedges to cover its transactional currency exposure on a rolling 12 month fixed forward basis for its European and Australian smelter operations. The hedging is aligned with Nyrstar's strategic hedging policy, which has been in place since 2012, and is intended to provide price certainty and improve profitability by taking advantage of price and exchange rate conditions which are seen as being advantageous during the implementation of the Company's transformation and turnaround plan. The recently entered forward and futures contracts hedging is supplementary to the previously communicated collar hedging.

The Metals Processing segment is 50% hedged in H2 2018 for its zinc free metal exposure with a collar between USD 2,600/ and USD 3,842/t. Currency exposure for Metals Processing direct operating costs and capital investments are hedged on a rolling 12 month basis to the end of June 2019. This hedging provides a EUR/USD hedge at 1.18 for H2 2018 and 1.18 for H1 2019. The AUD/USD is hedged with a collar of 0.70 to 0.80 in H2 2018 and at 0.76 in H1 2019.

The Mining segment is 50% hedged in H2 2018 for its zinc free metal exposure with a collar between USD 2,600/t and USD 3,842/t. In 2019, Nyrstar has hedged 100% of its zinc free metal exposure (166kt) for the Mining segment at c. USD 3,000/t. Transactional CAD/USD currency exposure for the Mining segment is fully hedged with a collar of 1.32 to 1.36 in H2 2018 and a fixed forward of 1.32 in 2019.

ZINC CONCENTRATES
Zinc concentrate 2018 benchmark treatment charges were settled at the end of April 2018 with a base TC of USD 147 per dmt (dry metric tonne) of concentrate. The 2018 benchmark zinc concentrate treatment charge represents a base TC decrease of approximately 15% on the 2017 headline treatment charge of USD 172 per dmt.

Similar to 2017, the vast majority (90-95%) of Nyrstar's concentrate requirements for 2018 are priced at benchmark terms or by reference to the benchmark with a discount applied. The average discount to the benchmark realised by Nyrstar in H1 2018 has been in-line with that achieved in H1 2017 at approximately USD 40 per tonne. The same discount is expected to be realised over the course of 2018.

SAFETY, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT
"Prevent Harm" is a core priority of Nyrstar. The Company is committed to maintaining safe operations and to proactively managing risks including with respect to people and the environment. At Nyrstar, we work together to create a workplace where all risks are effectively identified and controlled and everyone goes home safe and healthy each day of their working life.

The frequency rate of cases with time lost or under restricted duties (DART) was 4.1, this is 4% lower than in the same period of last year. The frequency rate of cases requiring at least a medical treatment (RIR) increased by 3% compared to H1 2017. The severity of the injuries in H1 2018, measured as the number of days lost or under restrictions due to Lost Time or Restricted Work Injuries was reduced by 18% compared to the same period of last year.

Nyrstar achieved a number of significant safety milestones in H1 of 2018. These milestones included the Auby smelter in France reaching two million working hours without a restricted work or a lost time injury. The last DART case at Auby occurred in March 2016. This is the first time that a Nyrstar site has achieved such a milestone. Further, the Balen smelter in Belgium achieved one million working hours DART free.

No environmental events with material business consequences or long-term environmental impacts occurred during H1 2018.

For further information please visit the Nyrstar website: www.nyrstar.com.