** Shares of Australia's Liontown Resources LTR.AX set to lose over 65% in 2024
** A gradually shrinking underlying lithium price and a drop in cash reserves have dragged LTR's stock price to A$0.56
** Shares currently trading at an over 80% discount to Albemarle Corp ALB.N, a once LTR suitor who had offered A$3 apiece
** Global lithium markets are reeling from rapid supply growth, which has surpassed demand for the battery metal at a time when the sales growth of electric vehicles has slowed
** LTR, which owns the Kathleen Valley lithium project, slashed its production plans at the mine in November in a bid to deal with a prolonged drag in the prices of the metal used for EV batteries
** Analysts at Citi, in November, lowered their PT to A$0.75 from A$0.85 and moved to "sell" from "neutral"
** Macquarie analysts say LTR's balance sheet could remain under pressure with additional capital expenditure flagged in the update and lithium prices remaining weak
** LTR up 1.8% on Friday
Liontown https://tmsnrt.rs/40bLmek
(Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru)
((Rishav.Chatterjee@thomsonreuters.com))
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