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Anglo Pt earnings forecast on the low side
Allan Seccombe
Posted: Mon, 14 Jul 2008
[miningmx.com] -- ANGLO Platinum advised shareholders its earnings for the interim period to end-June would be between 15 to 25% higher than the same period for the previous year, a number some analysts said was lower than expected.
Anglo Platinum, the world’s largest platinum producer, said its earnings per share and headline earnings per share would be between 15 and 25% higher than the previous year’s 2,944 cents and 2,943 cents respectively.
“We were looking for a higher number than that,” said Leon Esterhuizen, precious metals analyst for RBC Capital Markets in London.
Anglo Platinum based its forecast on a higher rand price for the metals it sells, but that sales volumes had come off.
Esterhuizen said this would be mainly because of the week-long shut down of the South African mining sector in January when power utility Eskom declared force majeure on its
electricity supply. Mines were subsequently limited to 90% of their normal power consumption after a slow ramp up after the shutdown. Some mines, where large-scale job losses were threatened, were restored to 95%.
Anglo Platinum was not one of those mines.
Anglo Platinum’s Amandelbult mine was also flooded, reducing production.
The company’s results will be released on 28 July.
The shares were untraded because the JSE has delayed all trade on the bourse on Monday due to technical problems affecting the feed of data.
"Nobody is trading a share any where or any how on the JSE," said a Johannesburg stock broker.
“We expected a higher earnings increase than that provided in the trading statement. Surprises are likely on the cost/production line,” said Barend Ritter from Sanlam Investment Management.
An analyst pointed out the rand metal basket price was up 60% in the first half of 2008 compared to the first half of last
year, rising to R14,252/oz against R8,882. “Clearly, costs are still boiling,” the analyst said, adding he had expected a slightly larger increase in earnings growth.
Anglo Platinum said in April it expected the Amandelbult mine, which had its underground working areas flooded, to be dewatered and back in full production during the second quarter of the year.
It warned at the same time that production and expansion projects would be negatively affected during 2008 because of the power shortages.
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