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Source: Reuters
Posted: 16/05/2012 BHP BILLITON expects commodity markets to cool further and noted that investors have lost confidence in the longer-term health of the global economy. The company also put the brakes on a plan announced by CEO MARIUS KLOPPERS in 2011 to spend $80bn over five years to expand its iron ore, coal energy and base metal divisions. BHP chairman JAC NASSER said the company was re-thinking its expansion plans "every day". BHP shares tumbled 4% to the lowest since Jul. 2009, while the broader Australian market fell 2.2%. NASSER said plans to invest billions of dollars beefing up BHP's Olympic Dam copper/uranium mine in Australia were still subject to a board decision later this year. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.
Source: Fin24.com
Posted: 16/05/2012 TRANS HEX yesterday said it expects to report an annual net profit of around R208m, from a y/y loss of R45.1m. The group said it was busy finalising its results for the FY to end-Mar., which should be released on Jun. 1. Profit after tax from continuing operations is expected to be around R81m, mainly as a result of a 21.4% increase n local production to 84 409ct and a 14.7% drop in sales revenue to R755m. Profit after tax from discontinued operations is expected to amount to R127m. TRANS HEX expects to report EPS from continuing operations of 77cps, and EPS from discontinued operations of 121cps, as well as headline earnings of 76c and 121c respectively. Net cash generated was around R80m, resulting in the group's net cash position at the end of the FY being around R347m. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.
Source: Fin24.com
Posted: 16/05/2012 NORTHAM PLATINUM yesterday warned shareholders that the smelter run-out at its Zondereinde mine could affect income by around R300m in the current FY. The company said it would take four months to rebuild the smelter, following a run-out on Friday. NORTHAM was in talks to secure alternative smelting services in order to contain the impact. The company said the revenues should be realised in the next FY, starting Jul. 1. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.
Source: Business Report
Posted: 15/05/2012 One of HULAMIN's mills had been shut due to a component failure, but it was being repaired and was due to restart next month, the company said yesterday. HULAMIN produces rolling slab and extrusion billet at the Camps Drift hot finishing mill in Pietermaritzburg. For the year to end-Dec. 2011, turnover increased by 20% to R6.96bn, due to strong performance at the rolled products and extrusions unit. HULAMIN estimated that 23 000t of production was lost due to the breakdown - a planned maintenance shutdown at Camps Drift had been pushed forward to coincide with the repair. HULAMIN closed down 1.5% at R6.65 on the JSE yesterday. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.
Source: Reuters
Posted: 15/05/2012 AQUARIUS PLATINUM yesterday said it could produce around 40 000oz less PGMs in the FY than previously foreseen. CE STUART MURRAY said production had been hit by tough operating conditions, especially labour stoppages. MURRAY said the platinum miner, which in Feb. forecast it would produce around 440 000oz of PGMs over FY2012, was unlikely to meet that target, noting that "it will probably be around circa 400 000oz". While he believed the government was worried about the implication for employment of a weakened mining industry, union activity was a major problem for miners. The recent IMPALA PLATINUM strike saw the emergence of a powerful new union, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, which MURRAY said is a concern for AQUARIUS as it had "done a lot of damage to our business since October" and continued to damage business. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.
Source: Reuters
Posted: 14/05/2012 LONMIN today said pre-tax profit dropped in H1 of its financial year as weak European demand weighed on prices and government-imposed safety stoppages hit output and operating costs. Pre-tax profit fell to $18m for the HY to end-Mar., against a y/y profit of $159m. Revenues fell almost 20%, underperforming a 10% drop in prices in dollar terms. Expectations of an underlying profit per share were disappointed with a loss of 6.9cps. LONMIN stuck to its guidance of a 2012 cost increase of 8.5%, despite a 10.9% rise in costs per ounce in H1, but noted that a further deterioration in the market environment could prompt it to scale back ambitious spending plans to boost output by 2015 and help cut operating costs. LONMIN plans to spend $450m this year, most of which has either been committed or spent. Analysts aid the miner has one of the weakest balance sheets in the sector but has also been among the most active in reducing its cost profile. LONMIN said the impact of government-imposed safety related stoppages was up almost 400%, reducing its tonnes produced by 347 000. Platinum sales for the period under review totalled 318 402oz, broadly flat on last year. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.
Source: JSE Securities Exchange - SENS
Posted: 14/05/2012 PAT DAVIES, former CEO of SASOL, has been appointed as an independent non-executive director to the BHP BILLITON board, effective Jun. 1. BHP chairman JAC NASSER said the appointment was in line with the board's commitment to continuing skill development and Board succession. NASSER noted that proprietary technology was one of the keys to SASOL's growth, and that DAVIES played a vital role in establishing a number of new companies and JVs based on this technology. His appointment brings the total number of non-executive directors at BHP to 12. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.
Source: Business Report
Posted: 14/05/2012 NORTHAM PLATINUM on Friday announced that smelting operations at the Zondereinde Mine were suspended the previous day. According to the miner, this followed a run-out, which occurred subsequent to a rebuild of the furnace end-wall in Apr. Mining and concentrating activities were unaffected. NORTHAM said management was assessing the extent of the damage to the smelter, the impact on refined metal production and sales, and alternative processing options "should this be required". This news brief represents a summary of the original article.
Source: Business Report
Posted: 11/05/2012 HARMONY GOLD today said a worker died at its Evander operations in Mpumalanga following a tramming accident. The accident occurred yesterday morning. Investigations were underway to establish the cause of the accident. Tramming operations at Evander had been stopped until investigations had been completed. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.
Source: JSE Securities Exchange - SENS
Posted: 10/05/2012 ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI today reported production for the quarter to end-Mar. of 981 000oz at a total cash cost of $794/oz. This compared with production of 1.039moz in Q1 2011 and guidance of 1.03moz at a total cash cost of $820-$835/oz. ANGLOGOLD said earnings benefited from a higher gold price, improved operating margins and a $90m net tax credit. Q1 adjusted headline earnings more than doubled to $429m, or 111cps, from $203m or 53cps y/y. EBITDA was 39% higher y/y at $800m. The company declared a dividend of 100 SA cents per share for the quarter. CEO MARK CUTIFANI said the company expected its robust earnings and cash flow to help it fund growth to more than 5.4moz in the coming years. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.
Source: Reuters
Posted: 10/05/2012 BHP BILLITON yesterday announced it would consolidate its stainless steel materials and aluminium divisions into a single unit of larger scale. The new aluminium and nickel customer sector group, to include all BHP's current nickel and aluminium assets, would be based in Perth under the leadership of GLENN KELLOW, currently president of stainless steel materials. Together, BHP's stainless steel materials and aluminium units made an underlying operating loss of $66m at the HY to end-Dec., compared BHP's underlying operating profit of $15.7bn. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.
Source: Business Report
Posted: 10/05/2012 HARMONY GOLD CE GRAHAM BRIGGS yesterday said the gold miner had trimmed 70 000oz from a previous FY target of 1.35moz. The company yesterday revealed that production in Q3 dropped 18% to just over 281 000oz, due in part to safety stoppages. As the spot gold price buckled to four-month lows around $1 584/oz, HARMONY's share price shed more than 1.5% yesterday to R71.59 at one point, bringing its year-to-date loss to 24%, a 22-month low. HARMONY GOLD has pegged future growth largely on its promising Wafi-Golpu project in Papua New Guinea, a gold-copper project it shares in a 50/50 JV with NEWCREST. HARMONY confirmed that the project's pre-feasability study would be completed by the end of June., with results likely to be made public by mid-Aug. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.
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