Impala Platinum Earnings Climb 67% in First Half as Metal Prices Advance

By Carli Lourens

Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMP), the second-largest producer, said first-half profit rose 67 percent as rand-based prices climbed.

Adjusted earnings climbed to 5.73 rand a share in the six months through December, from 3.44 rand a year before, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement today. The mean estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg is for adjusted earnings of 5.35 rand.

While the average dollar platinum price increased 1.7 percent to $1,654.33 in the six-month period, the rand price of the metal advanced 8.5 percent as the local currency depreciated. Impala mines mostly in South Africa, which has the largest reserves.

Refined platinum production declined 21 percent to 356,000 ounces after a 48 percent decrease in volumes supplied to Impala by rival companies.

Second-half output will be eroded by a stoppage at Impala’s largest mine near Rustenburg, northwest of Johannesburg. The company is losing about 3,000 platinum ounces a day at the operation, which came to a complete halt on Jan. 30 as an illegal strike by rock-drill operators over pay spread, prompting the dismissal of about 17,000 workers.

Impala lost 60,000 ounces as of Feb. 14 at Rustenburg, the company said. That’s the equivalent of $98 million at today’s price of $1,635 an ounce.

Impala accounts for about a quarter of the world’s platinum production, less than Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS)