Implats warns on lower earnings due to lower platinum price
Impala Platinum, the world's second largest platinum miner, today warned that its basic earnings per share for the half year ended 31 December 2015 is expected to be 15-30 per cent lower than the same period the previous year, coming in at between 29 and 35 cents.
Headline earnings per share are set to come in 10-20 per cent lower, between 50 and 59 cents, it said.
The difference between the basic and headline earnings is primarily due to the impairment of part of its Rustenburg mine, which closed in December 2015, it said.
The miner also attributed the decline in earnings to lower platinum prices in rand, which were 15 per cent lower than the comparable period the previous year.
Implats, along with Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and Lonmin, produce more than half of the world's platinum at their South African mines.
But the ongoing commodities rout, hit by slowed growth in China, has caused the platinum miners' profits to plunge, leading to job cuts and mine closures.
Even the massive depreciation of the rand has not been enough to turn around the companies' fortunes.
Implats is set to release its half-year results on 25 February.