(Reuters) - Iron ore miner Ferrexpo said on Friday it expects core earnings in the first half of the year to have increased "materially", driven by higher pricing, production and sales volumes.
Ferrexpo, the third-largest producer of iron ore pellets for the global steel industry, said the average cost of production is likely to increase in the first half, but added that cost inflation has been lower than expected partly due to a fall in Brent oil prices.
Ferrexpo, which has been looking at possible misuse of funds donated to a charity in Ukraine, named Ernst and Young veteran Graeme Dacomb as a member of an independent committee reviewing the matter.
Deloitte quit as Ferrexpo's auditor in April, saying the company had delayed an investigation into the use of funds by the charity partner.
The company has rejected those allegations.
The review is ongoing and no conclusive evidence of any wrongdoing has been found, the company said on Friday.
(Reporting by Justin George Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
