JOHANNESBURG - South Africa’s Northam Platinum reported a widened full-year loss on Friday, weighed down by preference share dividends related to its empowerment structure despite improved production and higher sales volumes.
Headline loss per share, which strips out certain one-off items, for the year ended 30 June 2018 fell to 200.5 cents per share compared with a loss of 181.9 cents per share during the same period of the previous year.
Northam said its financials have been hobbled by preference share dividend payments related to a black economic empowerment (BEE) transaction which increased its black ownership levels to 30 percent.
Normalised headline earnings, the group’s main measure of business performance which is adjusted for the impact of the BEE transaction, rose 5.8 percent to 421.5 million rand or 82.7 cents per share.
Group sales revenue rose 10 percent to 7.6 billion rand boosted by improved production and sales volumes combined with higher metals prices.
Northam’s refined metal production rose 4.5 percent to 571,843 ounces during the year despite a work stoppage at its Booysendal operations.
“This reflects a commendable operational performance at Zondereinde mine where production volume was up 7.0 percent year on year,” Northam said in a statement.