JOHANNESBURG - Mining company Impala Platinum on Thursday reported a headline loss per share of 171 cents for the year ended 2018, worse than the loss of 137 cents recorded last year.
Impala said earnings during the year were impacted by impairments, mainly due to the restructuring of Impala Rustenburg, where the company has announced it will slash some 13,000 jobs over two years.
The company said the past year had been pivotal as it embraced and advanced key strategies to align with the group’s evolving geopolitical and macro‐economic landscape.
Both jurisdictions in which the company operates, South Africa and Zimbabwe, had witnessed reassuring political changes, which it said would positively influence the industry and the group’s business interests in the future.
Over the year, tonnes of metal milled rose six percent to 19.4 million compared to last year’s 18.3‐million tonnes.
Platinum ounces in concentrate were one percent higher at 1.57 million platinum ounces, mainly due to improved operational performances from Impala, Marula, Mimosa and Impala Refining Services (IRS), while Zimplats and Two Rivers reported lower contributions as a result of fewer production days.
Refined platinum production was however impacted by the 77 000‐platinum ounce temporary stock build‐up at Impala Rustenburg, following furnace maintenance undertaken during the first half of the financial year and an electrical failure in February.
Despite higher rand basket prices, revenue for the year declined by three percent to R35.9 billion, impacted by lower sales volumes.
Gross profit improved by R2.1 billion to R1.6 billion, but despite this, earnings for the year were adversely impacted by impairments of R13.6 billion, the bulk relating to the impairments of assets at Impala Rustenburg following the outcome of a strategic review.