SIBANYE-Stillwater will report another set of all-action but ultimately noisy financial numbers for its 2025 financial year on Friday.
Full year basic earnings will reflect a loss of between R1.74 and R1.94 per share after booking additional impairments in the second half.
This is according to a trading statement published by the miner on Wednesday which said total impairments for 2025 financial will be R14bn.
Some R5.3bn in impairments were recognised in the second half of the financial year related to $138m on the Keliber lithium project and a R3.8bn impairment of Kloof, Sibanye-Stillwater’s West Rand gold mine following a write-down in resources.
These write-downs were partially offset by a R1.9bn impairment reversal at Burnstone, Beatrix and Driefontein related to the higher gold price.
Of the R14bn in total impairments for the year, some R9.7bn had already been recognised during the first half of Sibanye-Stillwater’s financial year.
Taking out these exceptional items, Sibanye-Stillwater will post a 360% lift in headline earnings year-on-year which are forecast to come in at between R2.32 and R2.56 per share, the company said.
This earnings range is well below consensus compiled by both Visible Alpha (R5.85c/share) and Bloomberg (R5.56/share) which did not, however, include the cost of Sibanye-Stillwater’s R4.5bn out of court settlement with Appian Capital Advistory, equal to R1.59 per share on a pre-tax basis which was passed through headline earnings.
Sibanye-Stillwater said it will report “substantially improved profitability” at the headline earnings level from its South African gold operations, including DRDGold as a result of a 39% increase in the average rand gold price received year-on-year.
Platinum group metal prices were also higher in the second half increasing 28% year-on-year as well as “consistent production” from the South African mines.
Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Richard Stewart is also expected to put more flesh on the bones regarding a new strategy that is focusing the group’s efforts on improving operational performance, reducing costs, better utilising resources to reserves management, and finding organic growth targets.
