
Johannesburg - Black-owned Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) would trim its capital expenditure and scale down on the construction of its R11 billion Styldrift I mine outside Rustenburg in a depressed market, which has seen the platinum price hit a six-year low.
The slump in commodity prices saw RBPlat yesterday post a headline loss of 60.4 cents a share in the six months to June, compared with headline earnings of 116c a share for the six months ended June last year. Shares fell as much as 10.68 percent, before paring losses to close 6.54 percent down on the JSE at R33.60.
Mining analyst Sibonginkosi Nyanga said RBPlat earnings had surprised markets as they were on the downside. “The market was expecting better from them given that they are the darling of market, with a strong balance sheet
.”
Speaking at the results presentation in Johannesburg yesterday, RBPlat chief executive Steve Phiri said the company would be tightening its belt as platinum prices had remained depressed due to increasing above ground stock.