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#PLS AFR Today - Chanticleer afr.com/chanticleer/lithium-… Lithium comeback kid tests the Trump-oil-debt nexus JPMorgan is taking PLS Group to Wall Street for a $US500 million bond deal as the miner returns to its cash-cow glory. Apr 14, 2026 – 6.27pm JPMorgan’s back doing what it always did best – taking Australian companies to US high-yield investors. And boy, does it have a story to tell. This time, it’s towing lithium comeback kid PLS Group, the old Pilbara Minerals, across the Pacific; a company that is back printing cash, dusting off mothballed mines, preparing to restart dividends and wanting to cap a stunning comeback story with a $US500 million ($704 million) high-yield bond. If PLS gets the cash in this market – and these deals typically launch only when the bankers are 100 per cent confident their client will – it would mark the dawn of a new chapter for the West Perth-based PLS, which went from the penthouse to the outhouse two years ago and is now roaring back to life. It’s all possible because the lithium spodumene price has gone through the roof, which makes PLS one of the ASX’s great cash cows (again). Analysts expect it to report $462 million free cash flow just this half, which is nine times more than in the six months to December 31, and not even comparable to the nearly $2 billion in net cash flow outflows across FY24 and FY25. PLS is responding to the return to good times like any miner would – by spending. It is restarting things and ramping up others. Its Ngungaju plant is due to be back in production by July, this time backed by an offtake agreement with a $1000-a-tonne floor price designed to protect it from the worst of another lithium price downswing (should there be one). Analysts think this year’s free cash flow number could nearly double again to $907 million in FY27, according to Visible Alpha forecasts, and dividends should restart as soon as this half. Barrenjoey’s Glyn Lawcock is calling for 6¢ a share at the year-end results, increasing to 26¢ next financial year. All this good news is borne out in PLS’ share price – the stock is up three times in the past 12 months to close at a record high on Tuesday, taking its market capitalisation to $17.4 billion. It has blown away more than half the short interest in the stock. Now, it wants to use the good times to cash in on debt markets, having not been to US investors for a few years. It is currently funded with equity, longstanding convertibles from good mate Posco and bank debt – a $1 billion revolving credit facility lined up in shakier times in the back half of 2024. The US high-yield bonds could replace some of that bank debt (choc-full of Australian and offshore banks like CBA, NAB, HSBC and ING and their covenants) with longer, lighter and potentially cheaper money. Standard & Poor’s gave it a BB- long-term issuer credit rating ahead of the launch on Tuesday. It wasn’t surprising to hear that JPMorgan’s bankers were there on Monday; taking Australian borrowers such as PLS to the US was its local investment banking unit’s bread-and-butter for years. The Wall Street bigwig still does them – there are just fewer. Borrowers have more funding options in Australia than ever, particularly for anything sub-investment grade. Investment banks have the $A term loan B market up and running, credit funds and life insurers are hungry, Australia’s corporate bond market is slowly evolving, and the domestic and offshore banks are doing more with their balance sheets. The last US high-yield bond deal we wrote about was JPMorgan taking fellow Perth comeback story (and lithium miner) Mineral Resources across the Pacific in September. Now, it wants to use the good times to cash in on debt markets, having not been to US investors for a few years. It is currently funded with equity, longstanding convertibles from good mate Posco and bank debt – a $1 billion revolving credit facility lined up in shakier times in the back half of 2024. The US high-yield bonds could replace some of that bank debt (choc-full of Australian and offshore banks like CBA, NAB, HSBC and ING and their covenants) with longer, lighter and potentially cheaper money. Standard & Poor’s gave it a BB- long-term issuer credit rating ahead of the launch on Tuesday. It wasn’t surprising to hear that JPMorgan’s bankers were there on Monday; taking Australian borrowers such as PLS to the US was its local investment banking unit’s bread-and-butter for years. The Wall Street bigwig still does them – there are just fewer. Borrowers have more funding options in Australia than ever, particularly for anything sub-investment grade. Investment banks have the $A term loan B market up and running, credit funds and life insurers are hungry, Australia’s corporate bond market is slowly evolving, and the domestic and offshore banks are doing more with their balance sheets. The last US high-yield bond deal we wrote about was JPMorgan taking fellow Perth comeback story (and lithium miner) Mineral Resources across the Pacific in September. Market meltdown always a possibility It’s an interesting time to be testing capital markets – a social media post from US President Donald Trump or Iran’s foreign minister could spark a market meltdown at any moment. PLS is also riding the oil shock wave a bit here – investor sentiment towards electric vehicles, batteries and the whole lithium story is much stronger with oil at more than $US95 a barrel. Some investors are likely to ask why PLS needs its $US500 million now – it had about $1 billion cash and plenty of liquidity as of December 31, and this half’s supposed to be much fatter. We expect PLS to say “why not”, which is probably what its deal-hungry bankers have said for a while now. PLS’ trip to the US comes amid a thawing in Australian bond markets – shopping centre owner Scentre Group, Airservices Australia, Stockland and Downer Group were among the issuers to launch deals or announce mandates on Tuesday.