THARISA, a platinum and chrome miner, said on Friday it would press ahead with a $5m share buy-back programme.
Global commodity pricing, market volatility and geopolitical events reflected negatively on the firm’s share price which was trading at “a significant discount”, the company said.
“We have maintained our strict capital discipline throughout the commodity cycles and believe it is opportune to allocate capital to a measured share repurchase programme,” said Michael Jones, CFO of Tharisa.
The programme would start on June 2 until the earliest of February 18, the $5m buy-back had been completed or the company extended or halted the programme.
This is the second time Tharisa has embarked on a buy-back programme. It unveiled a similar programme totalling $5m last year.
On May 22 Tharisa reported 78% lower interim share earnings, coming in at 2.9 cents per share. Despite this it announced a 1.5c/share interim dividend predicated on confidence better days were in store in the current six months to end September.
Problems with contractors resulted in not having sufficient drilling equipment available at the Tharisa open pit, situated in the North West province.
There was also major rainfall in the second quarter which impeded production, a problem reported widely by miners in the region, including other platinum group metal miners. Coal miners in Mpumalanga province have also be affected.
“We continue to like Tharisa for the multi-faceted nature of its strategy,” said analysts at Berenberg Bank in a recent report. “While we are more cautious on the PGM market in the near term, prices are rallying, and chrome prices are enjoying strong levels which is, in our view, a reflection of our more constructive stance on the Chinese economy,” the bank said.
Shares in Tharisa gained just over 3% in early Johannesburg trade. The stock is 4% higher year-to-date but 10% down on a 12 month basis.
