Strong rand clobbers Anglo American Platinum’s earnings

Anglo American Platinum (AngloPlat) has cautioned shareholders that its earnings for the six months to end-June will be at least 20% lower than the previous comparable period and also warned of a further possible revision.

In a trading statement released to the JSE today, AngloPlat commented that, “there is currently insufficient certainty to enable the company to provide specific guidance on its expected results and it is anticipated that Anglo American Platinum will publish a further trading statement closer to the release of its interim financial results which will be released on 24 July 2017.”

AngloPlat shares were little changed in trading on the JSE following the announcement rising 0.5% to R289.91.

AngloPlat attributed the anticipated drop in headline earnings – amounting to around R329m or 126c a share – to being “primarily a result of the strong rand” but also cited on-going problems at the Waterval treatment plant which has created a build-up of work-in-progress material which will delay around 90,000oz of refined platinum production into the second half of financial 2017.

The company statement added that, “there is no impact to full year production with guidance maintained at metal-in-concentrate production of between 2.35 – 2.4 million ounces.”